Birds of a Feather
by HlysComment
Summary: Toby meets another telepath but instead of leading to the answers he's always sought, the encounter leads to danger. Toby finds himself a prisoner & as his captivity drags on he begins to fear not only that he won't escape, but that he won't want to.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, this is my first The Listener fanfic. I hope fans won't be disappointed and that I do the characters credit. I've been thinking a lot about the show since the long awaited Season Two premiere and this story popped into my mind. I hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't have any rights or priviledges. The characters belong to ... I don't know CTV? Someone else. I'm just having fun. Please, don't sue me. **

* * *

Toby sat, only half listening to his partner's rant about the price of honey. Most people wouldn't make much note of an increase but most people didn't buy it in bulk for a Turkish restaurant. Oz did.

Oz's parents were the actual owners of the restaurant but they often relied heavily upon their young son with regard to, well, just about everything up to and including cooking. While the restaurant had been doing much better lately and had a nice comfortable financial cushion, it still wasn't doing so well that an increase in supply prices went unnoticed.

"Toby?" Oz's questioning tone caught his partner's attention.

"What?" Toby asked.

"You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?" Oz accused.

"I've heard a word…" Toby defended himself. "…or two…about honey?"

He looked an apology at Oz who rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, honey." Oz said. "Which comes from bees, which aren't that plentiful anymore. So, my question was, do you think Einstein was right about the world coming to an end because bees die out?"

Toby actually considered the question. "Well, yeah, it would be tragic. If you don't have bees, you don't have pollination and you lose tons of food stuffs. That's wide spread famine but the world's human population is out of control, man. If 99% of the human beings in the world died you'd still be left with over six million people. That's three times the population of Toronto."

Oz frowned. "So, what are you saying?"

Toby shrugged. "I'm saying it'd be a setback but the world definitely wouldn't end. Humanity wouldn't even end."

"Wait a minute. Are you one of these people who doesn't care if people die because there are too many of us?" Oz accused.

Toby gave his partner a withering look. "Yeah, Oz. I think the more people die the better. That's why I spend all day trying to save them."

"Well, I don't know." Oz said defensively. "People have odd views when it comes to this kind of stuff."

"I think every human life is precious." Toby declared as though stating it for the record.

"Especially mine." Oz added helpfully.

Toby smiled and looked back out the window. "Yes, Oz, especially yours."

Oz's chuckle was cut off by the squawk of the radio followed by the sound of Amy in dispatch.

They had a call.

* * *

An agitated woman was waiting for them outside the university's history department building.

"Thank goodness you're here. She's upstairs." The woman breathed. "I'll show you."

Toby and Oz started to follow her, Oz calling out. "Ma'am, slow down a bit. We don't want you to slip and fall."

"Hurry." The woman urged, not caring to listen to him. However, she was forced to wait for the two men who in keeping with 'Rule #1' walked fast but did not run.

When they got off the elevator the anxious woman who had identified herself as Susan Clausen, led them to a small office with the name Dr. Andrea Wallace carved into a placard.

The woman in the office had her back to the door and seemed perfectly fine, bending over a stack of books apparently looking for a specific title. Then she turned around, revealing a large crimson stain on her white blouse.

"Susan!" The woman in the blood stained shirt sighed, "You didn't call an ambulance? I told you, I'm fine. I'll see to it after my afternoon class."

_Drat the woman._

The thought broke through Toby's barriers and he winced at Susan's strong emotions: annoyance tinged with concern.

"You're bleeding." Susan said aloud.

The injured woman, Andrea, smiled an amused smile.

"Yes, but very, very slowly." She retorted.

"Well, you can't teach a class with blood all over you." Susan barked back. "Kids are so soft these days one of them might faint at the sight of you, hit their head on a desk and sue the school for millions. You go with these nice, good looking young men or I will go to the Dean."

Andrea broke into an irrepressible chuckle which did nothing to ease Susan's mood.

_It's not FUNNY._ Susan's thought was so strong it came across almost as a scream in Toby's mind and he winced involuntarily. When he looked up it seemed that something in her friend's face had made an impression with Andrea because she held up her hands, bloodstained Toby noticed, in a placating manner.

"I'm sorry, Susan. I know you're worried." She looked back at her desk and sighed, irritated. Then threw her hands up in defeat. "Alright, alright. I'll go with them. Can you send notice to my class?"

"I can put a sign on the door." Susan countered.

"Okay." Andrea frowned thoughtfully, "You do that and I'll send a text."

"Ladies?" Oz broke in. "I don't mean to interrupt but can we take a look at Professor Clausen's injury, maybe?"

"Oh, it's not an injury. It's a hemangioma. I just need it cauterized. It happens from time to time but," She looked pointedly at her colleague. "it's nothing that requires an ambulance trip."

"What's a hemangioma?" Susan asked breathlessly, clearly under the impression that a hemangioma must be a life threatening condition.

"Do you mind?" Oz asked the patient.

"Not at all. You'll save me the hassle when I get back." Andrea smiled.

Oz turned to Susan. "A hemangioma basically is a small benign tumor around a blood vessel."

"A tumor?" Susan all but squealed, horrified.

_Andrea_

Toby almost shuddered as the woman's fear for her friend washed over his barriers as though they weren't there. He frowned, trying harder to strengthen the mental wall between his mind and hers.

Oz held up his hands. "A benign tumor, nothing to do with cancer. Basically, it's a different kind of mole."

"Oh." Susan sighed, comforted.

"The only problem is they break down the cell structure of the vein, then when the vein breaks, usually due to the hemangioma, they can't contract and cut off the blood flow. So, the blood can't clot and the hole in the vein just keeps on bleeding. In most cases a doctor just cauterizes it."

"See, Susan" Andrea huffed. "I told you. It's no big deal."

"That blood flow looks a little heavy for a hemangioma." Toby said doubtfully. "Are you sure that's what it is?"

"Yep." Andrea seemed quite confident.

"Do you mind if I take a look?" Toby asked politely.

"Knock yourself out."

Toby examined the makeshift pressure bandage Andrea had apparently made from a cotton ball and Band-Aid. It wasn't a bad bandage but it was a bit old, the blood appeared to have soaked through enough of the cotton that it was oozing slowly but steadily from the bottom. He pulled gently at the Band-Aid and held his hand up defensively to deflect any spray in case of pressure build up.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending how you looked at it, it was as he thought; the bandage hadn't been stopping the flow enough to build up any pressure. The hole was small but almost perfectly round and there was no sign of clotting or closure. It looked as though someone had stabbed her in the chest with a large gauge needle.

It was the biggest hemangioma Toby had ever seen but she was right, it was a hemangioma.

"Well, your diagnosis was correct, Dr. Wallace." Toby smiled. "What time is your class? If you hurry, we might have you back in time for it."

* * *

Dr. Wallace agreed to sit on the stretcher with minimal argument and soon they were off the elevator and heading to the rig. Toby glanced back at the young Professor who, despite her bloodstained appearance was smiling cheerfully. Suddenly, the smile evaporated. Her eyes widened with fear.

Toby turned to follow her gaze and had time to spot two men in suits walking purposefully to the administrative building when his mind imploded.

That was the only way to describe it. Emotions raged through his skull. These thoughts and feelings didn't wash over his barriers or seep through some gap or hole. They tore his barriers to pieces. Toby grasped desperately at the remnants as though he could mentally hold them up against the onslaught.

Images flashed. Men and women in scrubs and lab coats.

Surgical masks.

Cold, clinical stares.

The feelings were there too.

Fear.

Pain so immediate and present he couldn't breath.

The sick fluttery feeling of an empty belly.

But more than anything was the restraint. Memories of being tied down. Helplessness. Confinement.

Toby heard Oz's voice trying to break through, calling his name.

Toby felt his own fear and panic at not being able to block out the intruder. He had no defense. Finally, in desperation his mind rebelled. It felt like a mental scream but suddenly the scream was reflected back at him through the intruders mind.

He clutched his head, his scream no longer confined to the realm of the mind and collapsed, bonelessly to the ground.

**To be continued...**


	2. Like Me

_That was weird; even for Toby. Why won't he wake up? I'm hungry. What day is it? I can get some tacos in the cafeteria as long as it's not Wednesday. Jessie always puts cilantro on the tacos. He's so proud of his fresh chopped cilantro. Can't tell him I hate the stuff. Why not? Just walk up and say, 'You know Jessie, I'd rather have my tacos without cilantro.' Why is that so hard? Why didn't I just tell him I was allergic the first day? I can't pretend now. He's seen me eat it. Why doesn't Toby wake up? This is driving me crazy._

Toby tried to force his eyes open and speak to his friend and partner but they resisted. He opened his mouth to speak but his lips pealed apart as though they'd been glued together and all that came out was a hoarse, dry cough.

"Toby?" Oz sounded startled but pleased. "You awake, man?"

Toby tried to swallow but his throat was parched.

"Here, here, man." Oz said and Toby felt a straw press gently against his lips. He took a small sip that seemed to be almost instantly absorbed by his mouth. He took another, slightly larger sip that made it down his throat.

"Oz." He croaked, still not trusting himself to open his eyes.

"Yeah, Toby, it's me." Oz sounded relieved. "You've been in a coma since yesterday."

"What Scale?" Toby asked.

"GCS 2." Oz answered. "You'd mumble and, uh, whimper sometimes. You responded to painful stimuli but that was it. You scared the crap out of me."

"Not just you." Toby said, finally cracking open his eyes. "What happened?"

"You tell me." Oz replied. "One minute we're taking Professor Wallace to the rig, the next thing I know the two of you are grabbing your heads like somebody pointed a death ray at you and BAM, you're both out."

Oz shook his head. "Freaky links."

Toby started to jerk up into a sitting position but fell back weakly.

"Hey, hey, hey." Oz reprimanded. "I know a one day coma doesn't sound impressive but you know as well as I do that it can knock you on your ass. Take it easy."

Toby grabbed Oz's arm tightly.

"Oz, a minute, okay. Did you say that both the professor and I grabbed our heads?"

Oz looked at Toby's death grip on his arm with concern but nodded his head. "Yeah, Toby. You were practically synchronized swimmers."

Toby let go and fell back against the pillows as the implications hit him.

"In fact," Oz went on, rubbing his arm. "You'd been doing it all afternoon. It was pretty weird."

"What?" Toby asked. "What are you talking about?"

"You and that professor." Oz said. "You kept, I don't know, doing things at the same time. Weird things like wincing and smiling, stuff like that."

Toby's eyes widened.

"Where is she?" He asked.

"Who?" Oz asked back.

"The professor!" Toby said, struggling to get out of bed.

"Hey, Toby! What are you doing? You need to rest…"

"I'm rested." Toby interrupted. "Where is she?"

"Down the hall. She's been out since Travers and Patterson brought her in. Why?"

"I think," Toby paused, hesitant to say it out loud. "I think she might be a telepath."

Oz's eyes widened.

"I think she might be like me."

Oz had collected a robe for when Toby woke back in the phase of his waiting when he'd needed things to do. Toby put it on gratefully and let his partner guide him down the hall, his feet still a bit unsteady.

When they arrived at the hospital room he hesitated. Oz noticed but said nothing.

Finally, Toby reached forward and opened the door.

The room was empty.

"I thought you said she was in 223?" Toby asked.

Oz's eyes were large. "She was! Toby, she was. I swear. I even looked in on her a couple of times. I don't know I guess I thought if she woke up you would to. She was here, Toby. She was here."

"Ah, well, they must have moved her. Let's check at the nurse's station."

They checked in at the nurse's station. Professor Andrea Wallace had not been moved. As far as the medical staff knew, she was still lying in room 223 and they were not happy to be informed otherwise. They checked the rest of the floor and sent messages to other departments that there was a revived coma patient wandering the halls, probably disoriented, but no one reported finding her.

The woman simply disappeared.

* * *

"Any more pain?" Olivia asked curtly, waving a pen light in Toby's eyes.

"No, Liv." Toby tried to pull the light from her hand but she snatched it away. "I do have a doctor you know. He discharged me."

Olivia didn't seem satisfied.

"You sure you didn't hit your head somehow?" She asked, for the third time.

"Yes, Liv, that's it." Toby said sourly. "Both me and the professor managed to hit our heads on something in a wide empty square, mind you, at exactly the same time."

Olivia frowned. "You don't have to be rude."

"I'm sorry." Toby sighed. "It's just everyone has been asking the same ridiculous questions since I woke up."

"Do you remember smelling something?" Olivia asked. "Maybe you and your patient were exposed to some kind of toxin."

"I think that's number three." Toby said.

Olivia looked confused.

"On the list of questions people have been asking me non stop since I woke up." Toby added helpfully with a grin.

"Fine." Olivia sighed. "You just going to pretend it didn't happen? That's a great idea, Toby. Works out so well for ostriches."

She started to walk away but Toby grabber her arm gently.

"Liv, I'm sorry." Toby apologized. "I really am. I appreciate your concern. I do. I think this.."

Toby shot a glance around to make sure no one was nearby and dropped his voice. "I think this has something to do with my telepathy. I couldn't tell Dr. Ross but, when this happened, it was like someone's thoughts ran through my head but it was intense. Crazy intense. Like, I don't know, like the mental version of a tornado or a hurricane."

Olivia's frown deepened.

_I don't know how to fix that._

The thought passed through Toby's defenses like it'd been shot out of a cannon.

"You heard that." She said. It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, sorry." Toby apologized. "It was…loud."

"Not your fault." Olivia said in a clipped voice.

_And yet it's the reason we're not together._ Toby thought sadly and for not the first time wished Olivia could read his thoughts like he read hers.

"Was there any warning before it happened?" Olivia went on, hiding from where the conversation was going and reverting to safer territory. "Some kind of headache or dizziness? A smell? A taste?"

"No." Toby sighed. "It happened in an instant. One second I was having a normal day, the next… It was like I was a kid again. Like I had no defenses at all."

Toby considered that. "No, it was worse than when I was a kid because…because the thoughts were so loud and specific and… just loud."

He looked at Olivia, wondering if he could explain it in a way that she would understand.

"It's like, with other thoughts I get flashes of insight and maybe colors or images. With these thoughts I could smell it and taste it. I could actually feel the pain."

"Pain?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, the memories, I think that's what they must have been. They were memories of being a prisoner; being starved and confined and hurt. Liv, I think those memories were Dr. Wallace's. I think she's a telepath."

Olivia seemed doubtful.

"Look, before it happened Oz said we, the professor and I, were frowning and wincing and things like that at the same time. Then, as we're walking her out, she looked scared. I followed her line of sight and saw two men walking away from us into the admin building and then WHAM!" Toby clapped his hands together for effect. "I get blindsided by the most overwhelming mental onslaught I've ever experienced."

Toby shook his head as though he'd decided something.

"I think Professor Wallace is a telepath. I think those were her memories of being experimented on because of her ability and I think those men have something to do with the place that gave her those memories."

"O-kay," Olivia said slowly. "I guess that's possible but, Toby really, how do you know there are even any other telepaths out there. I mean, the chances of you being able to read minds are beyond calculating."

"I know there's at least one other."

"This woman?" Olivia asked doubtfully.

"No, a teenage girl I met last year." Toby replied hotly.

_Still keeping secrets from me._

The sadness of the thought is what sent it over. It was dripping with sadness.

"Liv, I'm sorry." Toby said, instantly apologetic. "I would have told you but, it wasn't my secret to tell."

"No, it's fine." She said with a smile but Toby could sense the sadness behind it. "It makes sense. I get it."

There was an awkward silence.

"Okay," Olivia said at last. "So, there are definitely other telepaths out there and you and this woman definitely had some kind of weird mental thing happen to you and only you. It's at least plausible that you're both mind readers. The problem is, she's gone. So..?"

"So, what do we do about it." Toby finished for her.

"Exactly."

"I wish I knew. I really wish I knew." Toby sighed.

**To be continued...**


	3. For Her

**I hope you like this installment. Slowly the bits are coming together. =)**

**Once again, I'm not profiting from this, so don't forget to be awesome. **

* * *

"I still think I could have taken my motorcycle." Toby huffed from the passenger seat of Oz's car.

"Uh huh." Oz said without turning his eyes from the road. "People newly awakened from mysterious comas are perfectly capable of riding motorcycles. I'm just selfishly insisting on driving you 11 miles.."

He gave Toby a meaningful glance.

"…I'll repeat that. 11 MILES out of my way because, I don't know, I like the pleasure of your company so much."

Toby couldn't suppress a grin.

"Oz, have I told you how much I appreciate you driving me home from the hospital?" He said innocently.

"Eh," Oz shrugged off the thank you. "It was on my way."

He glanced over at Toby again and when their eyes met both dissolved into laughter.

Suddenly a thought interrupted.

_Stay away from your apartment. You're being followed._

The thought definitely wasn't Toby's, but sounded in his head with his own voice.

"Uh, Oz." Toby said as they turned the corner that would bring them within a mile of his apartment. "Drive past the apartment."

"What?" Oz asked. "Why?"

"Just trust me." Toby said, trying to slow his breath and suddenly racing heart.

"Okay, man." Oz relented. "Whatever you say."

Toby glanced up to the upper floor as they passed his building.

"Uh, Toby?" Oz queried. "If we're not taking you home, where are we going?"

"Good question." Toby answered.

_Slow down._

"Slow down." Toby relayed the instruction.

"What?"

"Oz, just go with it, please?"

Oz cast a skeptical glance in Toby's direction but complied with his request. They slowed to a crawl.

_Turn on the right blinker like you're going to turn at the intersection, then drive on through and turn left. If the car is still following you at that point, ID it and find a way to get rid of it. I'll know when it's not following you anymore._

"Toby!" Oz's voice was strained. "Toby, what's up? You feeling okay?"

Toby relaxed his fingers which were painfully gripping the sides of his seat. He concentrated on taking deep breaths; in through the nose, out through the mouth.

"Yeah," He gasped. "Yeah, I'm getting messages. I'm not sure from who but it's saying someone's following us…"

Oz's eyes grew large as Toby relayed the message and he made more glances toward the passenger's seat than was probably prudent.

"You think we can trust the mystery voice?"

Toby considered it. "I can't put my finger on why but, yeah, I think we can."

"Okay, I guess that's good enough for me. Here we go."

Oz put on his right blinker and Toby watched the traffic behind them carefully as they drove through the intersection without turning. Toby thought he saw a black Oldsmobile turn off a right blinker as it continued through the intersection two cars behind them but he couldn't be sure.

There was no doubt, however, when Oz turned left without signaling a block ahead. The only car to follow them through that intersection was the same black Oldsmobile.

"You see it?" Toby asked.

"Yeah." Oz answered, glancing at his rear view mirror. "Black Olds."

"Yep." Toby confirmed.

"Holy crap, Toby." Oz almost yelped. "Someone's for real, actually following us. What do we do?"

Toby thought.

"Pull over at that tavern." He said as he spotted a sign reading _He's Not Here Bar & Grill_ on the corner ahead of them.

Oz parked the car in the only available spot along the street. The Oldsmobile seemed to hesitate for a moment, then drove ahead and turned right at the next intersection.

Toby reached out toward the car and pulled back his defenses a bit, allowing the thoughts of one of the men in the car to flow through.

_Need to find a spot and get an eye on the tavern. Don't wanna see Wilson's face if we lose 'em._

And image of an older man, his face an exaggerated mask of rage flashed into Toby's mind before he pulled his defenses back into place.

"Okay," He said. "Let's go. They're circling around the block. Take the next intersection left."

Oz pulled forward, took the left and then one more quick left then a right.

_Good job_.

The thought was tinted with warmth, affection and an almost possessive pride.

_Pull over. That car is almost obscenely conspicuous. Walk two blocks north, turn left and you'll see me.  
_

"So?" Oz asked. "Where to now?"

"Pull over." Toby said. "Looks like we're going to hoof it for a few blocks."

Oz didn't exactly seem pleased but he dutifully parked the car.

Toby wasn't sure what he was doing but decided to give something a try.

_Who are you?_ He thought as loudly as he could.

_I think you already know the answer to that question, Toby._

The two partners rounded the left turn and there, as Toby had suspected, stood Professor Andrea Wallace.

_Hello Toby._

"Hi." He answered.

"We have a lot to talk about." Professor Wallace said aloud.

"Damn straight." Huffed Oz, stepping between the woman and his partner. "Let's start with what you did to my friend back at the University."

Wallace smiled.

"You're very lucky, Toby." She spoke the words to Toby but was looking at Oz. "It's not everyone who can say they have such a true and loyal friend."

"Yeah, I've been fortunate to have four friends I know I can trust."

Wallace turned her eyes from Oz to Toby.

"I only had one." She said sadly. "I trusted her with my life and I wasn't wrong to. She saved me. Now I'm going to save you."

_For her._

The thought wasn't sent as the others had been. It spilled over and carried Wallace's voice and a depth of sadness.

"Who?" Toby asked.

Wallace smiled though her eyes were bright. "Your mother, Toby. I'm going to save you because I couldn't save Maya."

A shocked silence descended on the trio and was finally broken by Oz's muttered, "Dude."

**To be continued...**


	4. Truth Will Out

**Here we go again, delving into the mystery. I think I should explain that this is straying off the beaten path of the show. I just thought it was kind of mean for them to introduce a big baddie at the end of season one and then make us wait ages and ages for a second season then tell us Bo Diddly about the big baddie. So, I'm inventing a big baddie and pitting our hero against it. Go Team Toby!**

**Also, if you've got a second and could give me some feedback, I'd really appreciate it. I'm new to this fandom and am totally down with constructive criticism. In other words, if you think I'm screwing up, please let me know and I'll try to do better. Thanks!**

* * *

"You knew my Mother?"Toby asked.

_Whoa, whoa, whoa._ Oz's thoughts were pointed, designed to penetrate Toby's barriers. _Toby, we don't know this woman. She could be a wacko._

"A wacko who reads minds, Oz." Toby reminded, seeing the amused reaction on Wallace's face.

Oz's glance darted between the two mind readers.

"See, I don't know if I can handle two of you." He said at last.

"It's fine, Oz." She reached out and placed a hand on Oz's shoulder. "You're just looking out for your friend. I actually appreciate that."

_She's way too hot to be Toby's Mom's age._

Oz's eyes grew large as he realized how loud that thought must have been but Wallace only chuckled.

"And I appreciate that, too." She said with a smile. "I met Maya when I was ten. She was sixteen I think."

Wallace looked sadly at Toby.

"She was, she was already pregnant with you, Toby."

Toby felt his eyebrows rise inadvertently. "So young?" He asked.

"Yes, there's more to the story. I don't really want to tell you but you need to know."

Toby could feel a barrier that was not of his making between his thoughts and Wallace's but a feeling of sad anxiety still managed to bleed through both that barrier and his. Wallace wasn't lying about not wanting to talk about whatever it was she felt she needed to say.

"What?"

"Toby, before I say anything else I want you to know your mother loved you. She really truly loved you. She looked at you as a gift. She used to say that you made up for all the awfulness we went through at the Institute."

Toby could feel his own anxiety growing. "What is it? Just tell me."

"Your mother wasn't pregnant by choice but it**_ was _**planned. It was an experiment, Toby."

Toby found himself shaking his head. "No, I don't believe you."

"You have to understand most telepaths are very weak. Your mother was one of the strongest I've ever seen and even she had to put some effort into it. They, the people who studied us, they were trying to make a super telepath, someone who could read minds from great distances with little to no effort. They manipulated the DNA of an embryo made from their two most powerful readers; your mother and a boy named Alex."

Toby shook his head again almost as if his silent denial could stop Wallace's revelations.

"There were five of us; Me and your mother; Danny and Annie were twins, I think they were eight and then there was Alex. He was only 14 when they started the experiment."

"Stop it!" Toby almost yelled. "Stop saying this."

Wallace reached out a hand but Oz stepped between the two mind readers.

"That's enough." Oz said fiercely.

Wallace frowned at him. "I know this is hard to hear but you have to listen to the rest of it. Your life is in danger now."

"I think you should leave." Toby barked and turned away but Wallace followed barking back.

"I can't! I led them straight to you! I can't leave you now. What would I say to Maya?"

Toby stopped short and turned around.

"You know where my mother is?" He asked.

"Well," Wallace hesitated. "No. We thought it would be safer to split up after you were born. She wanted to do it sooner but I wouldn't leave her until after she delivered you and I knew you were both safe and sound."

The reminder of her story about his birth made Toby want to run in the opposite direction but she reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Hey!" Oz yelled.

_Toby_

Came Wallace's silent plea.

_Open your mind. Let me show you._

Toby looked into the woman's eyes and felt her barriers fall. A wave of concern and affection hit his barriers and gently washed over.

He looked at his friend and then back to Wallace.

"Okay." He said aloud.

Suddenly he was in a small room, there were two queen size beds. A hotel room he realized. A young girl was laying in one of the beds. His point of view shifted to the bathroom and he saw blood is small pools and blood stained towels.

_I should clean those up. _He heard himself say but his voice was that of a little girl.

'_Leave it be for now.' _The girl in the bed said. _'Come look at him. Isn't he beautiful?'_

He felt himself walking to the bed and looking into a tightly wrapped bundle. A small pink face bordered by thick black hair was staring up at the young girl holding it. The girl was staring down at the bundle and he could feel waves of love and relief pouring out of her.

_Do you think he'll be okay?_ The little girl voice asked. _You don't think what they did will, you know, mess him up?_

Toby realized that he was reliving a memory, Wallace's memory of his birth.

_He'll be fine._ His mother purred, rubbing her nose gently against the baby's. _He'll be perfect._

Suddenly the room was gone and Toby was standing again on the streets of Toronto.

"What'd you do to him?" Oz fairly screamed, jerking Toby's arm from Wallace's grasp.

"Oz!" Toby yelled. "Oz, it's okay."

He looked at Wallace who had tears in her eyes.

"She loved you, Toby."

Toby's own mind flashed to his only memory of his mother. Of her hiding him in the woods. Of the almost overwhelming fear and concern she was feeling for him and he knew Wallace was right.

"I believe you." He said and Wallace sighed with relief.

"What about my father?" He asked suddenly.

"Alex was just a kid when you were born. We were all like siblings. He was.." Wallace hesitated.

_How do I say freaked out without hurting his feelings again?_

"I get it." Toby said softly. "It was a freaky situation."

Wallace sighed. "I'm so sorry, Toby. He took the twins right after we escaped. I never saw him again."

Toby thought about all he'd heard for a minute and then smiled. "Well, at least now I know his name and I know he was like me."

"No, Toby." Wallace corrected. "No one is like you."

Toby was on the verge of asking her what she meant by that when she suddenly jerked and her eyes widened almost comically.

"Professor Wallace?"

Then he felt a strange sting in his back.

"Whaatthe…" He tried to find the thing that seemed to have lodged above his right shoulder blade but his arms didn't want to move. He felt the world tip and watched, helplessly as his knees gave out and he pitched forward onto the sidewalk.

**To be continued...**


	5. Hands Tied

The first thing Oz noticed was the fact that he wasn't wearing any underwear. He never went commando, so this was surprisingly disconcerting. He went from barely conscious to fully awake and near panic in a moment. He sat up quickly, his eyes scanning the room before it started to swim around him and he fell back against pillows.

"Oz, Oz" Liv's voice was calming him. "Shhh, it's okay. You're okay."

"Am I in the hospital?" He asked dazedly.

"You don't remember?" Liv asked.

"Remember what?" Oz answered her question with his own.

"You were brought in last night. Someone found you passed out in an alleyway. You were in and out of consciousness but you said something about Toby. I couldn't make sense of it. You just kept saying, 'They're taking him back.' What does that mean?"

Oz frowned, "I..I don't know. I don't remember. I don't remember any of that. The last thing I remember is…is being here. Waiting for Toby to wake up."

"Osman!" Oz's mother's voice was frantic.

"You see? I told you! I told you if we let him be for a moment he would wake up." Oz's father said.

"He wasn't sleeping. He was unconscious! My baby was unconscious. He could have died." His mother moaned.

"Died?" His father scoffed.

"Shush! What do you want? He's in the hospital!" His mother shouted then, turning to Oz her voice became soft and sweet. "My boy, how are you feeling?"

"I'll be fine, Ma." Oz reassured her. "I'm sorry I made you worry." His mother leaned over and gave him a hug so fierce it actually hurt. He saw Olivia frowning over his mother's shoulder.

_I'll come back later._ She mouthed, walked out of the room and almost collided with Det. Charlie Marks.

"Is he awake?" The detective, never one for small talk, asked abruptly.

"Yes," Olivia sighed, suddenly very tired. "But he doesn't seem to remember anything from last night. Not what he said to me or what happened before."

Charlie grunted in frustration.

"I noticed a puncture mark on his chest…"

"Like someone injected him with something?" Charlie interrupted.

"No," Olivia said, somewhat annoyed. "If you'd let me finish I would have said that it really caught my attention because of the trauma surrounding it. It's the kind of mark you only get from a projectile. Someone shot a dart of some sort at Oz from a distance."

Charlie absorbed that.

"So, that's why he was so out of it last night." She said finally.

"And why he can't remember anything today." Olivia finished. "I took a sample of his blood and sent it to toxicology. I'm hoping I can identify the drug they used."

"Good." Charlie commented. "If we ID the drug we might be able to track whoever did this through recent purchases. Let me know as soon as you get the results." Charlie turned and started to walk away.

"Charlie?" Olivia seemed cautious.

"What?" Charlie said pausing a few feet away.

"Whoever did this drugged Oz and took Toby."

Charlie looked puzzled. "Yeah?"

"What does Toby have that Oz doesn't?"

Charlie frowned. "You think someone knew about Toby? That that's why they took him?"

"I know that the day before yesterday Toby was in a coma brought on by an encounter with another telepath…"

"Another?" Charlie interrupted and this time Olivia's frustration was very clear. "Sorry, keep going."

"I will." Olivia said tersely. "Toby met a woman he thought was another telepath. They both fell into brief and mysterious comas. The next day Toby wakes up and the woman is gone. Completely disappeared. That same day, Toby is discharged. His best friend takes him home only he doesn't get there. Instead, he disappears and his friend is found drugged in the street."

Olivia shrugged. "I'm not a detective but…"

"I get it." Charlie said, interrupting yet again. "Toby's disappearance is probably related to his abilities."

"So?" Olivia prodded.

"So, what?" Charlie asked.

"Well, doesn't that help somehow?" Olivia floundered. "I don't know. Narrow the scope of the investigation or something?"

"What am I supposed to do, doctor?" Charlie asked, advancing a few steps in Olivia's direction. "Go to my boss and say, 'By the way, that missing person is a telepath and I think his ability to _read people's minds_ might have had something to do with his disappearance.' Is that what I'm supposed to do?"

Olivia frowned but Charlie wasn't done.

"Maybe I can go to a Judge with that. 'Yes, Judge, I'd like a warrant because I think Mr. Logan's ability to read minds points us in this direction.'"

"I get it." Olivia fumed.

"Maybe." Charlie barked and then seemed to realize that she was nearly shouting. She dropped her head and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Olivia. I know you don't know me. I'm not…" She shrugged. "I care about Toby. He's a genuinely good guy. He saved my life once, did you know that?"

Olivia shook her head.

"Now he needs my help and I've got nothing." She laughed bitterly. "Nothing but one hand tied behind my back."

"You're good at what you do." Olivia said firmly. "You'll find him."

Charlie squared her shoulders and turned to leave calling over her shoulder, "You're damn right I will."

* * *

Toby's head ached. He reached up to rub his temple, or he tried to. There was something on his wrist. He opened his eyes. He seemed to be in a hospital. At least, he was in a hospital bed but there was something off. Toby had been in hundreds of hospital rooms and this one seemed off. There were no windows, it was too small and the door, the door was wrong. Toby had trouble putting his finger on what was off about it. Then there was the fact he was in restraints. Why?

"Hello?" He called.

There was no answer.

"Hello? Is someone there?" He called again and after a moment he thought he could hear footsteps approaching.

There was the sound of a key turning a lock. Yet another off thing about this place.

A tall, distinguished looking man with brown eyes and thick but silver hair entered the room.

"You're awake." He said smiling. "I can't believe you're awake!"

"Where am I?" Toby asked.

"You're home, Adam." The man said happily. "After all these years, you're finally home.

* * *

Toby didn't bother to look up as the door to his cell opened. Though there was a perfectly fine bed in the perfectly square white cell, Toby chose to sit on the floor.

He hadn't been able to keep track of time but it felt like he had been confined for weeks, perhaps even months. In the early days he'd tried to pretend he had no abilities. Then he'd tried to explain that he just wanted to go home but he'd been made to understand in no uncertain terms that he had been created by the Institute. As far as they were concerned, they owned him and he would do what they wanted him to do.

Initially, they'd let him mingle with some of the other 'gifted guests'. They were mostly children being trained and groomed for … something. Toby wasn't quite sure. Wickman, the painfully thin silver haired man who'd greeted Toby when he'd first awakened, had been looking for him since his mother escaped. He seemed very pleased by the level of ability Toby had inadvertently displayed and wanted to use Toby's abilities in the service of his own personal justice.

"Imagine, Adam." He'd said. "Imagine knowing, not guessing, but knowing someone was guilty; being able to stop plots and right wrongs. We can make the world a better place."

"My name is Toby," Toby insisted yet again, though he knew it was a futile effort, "That's what you want? Telepathic vigilantes?"

"Look at the world, _Adam_." Wickman said, emphasizing the name. "It's falling apart. Politicians make their plans, manipulating the system. Cops are dirty. Lawyers care only about winning. Judges are corrupt and no one does anything because," He shrugged, "what can you prove? That's where you and the others come in."

"And that justifies you kidnapping me? Keeping me here against my will? And what about all these kids?"

"I am the legal guardian to every child in this institution." Wickman said defensively. "And they are very well cared for."

"You've experimented on them!" Toby exploded.

"I made them better." Wickman insisted.

"You put radios in their heads!" Toby cried.

"That's a gross oversimplification. I made use of technology to improve their natural gifts." Wickman defended. "The implants have increased their telepathic range tenfold."

"Is that the point?" Toby asked. "You're trying to figure out how to make telepaths?"

"The implants won't make anyone telepathic, Adam." Wickman sighed, as though disappointed with a star pupil's lackluster performance. "We all have our own unique wavelength. We're all tuned to our own special frequency, if you will. Brain waves, like radio waves, pass through our minds and just keep going. You, and telepaths like you, can intercept these waves and decipher them. Your brain has the ability to interpret not only your brain waves but others'. The implants don't give you the ability to interpret other brainwaves. They allow people who can interpret other brainwaves to, well, hear better."

"But there's something you don't seem to understand." Toby insisted. "Telepathy isn't as cut and dry and you think. You're not downloading their brains; you're eavesdropping on their inner dialogue. People don't always think about what you want them to think about. And sometimes they think things that are confusing. I know you think if you have these telepathic vigilantes, you'll be able to deliver justice but the truth is, you'll still make mistakes."

"There may be some mistakes, but certainly not as many as the current system. It's unfortunate but the end result is worth, no, it requires such sacrifices."

"And you can live with that?" Toby asked.

"Yes, I can."

"Well, I can't." Toby said stubbornly. "I won't."

Wickman had continued trying to persuade him but Toby had refused to engage in his rhetorical arguments. Eventually, Toby stopped speaking to the man altogether. At some point, Wickman had given up on reason.

"How are you feeling today, Adam?"

Toby glanced up briefly at Wickman but ignored the quiet question.

"Still sulking?"

_I'm not a child._ Toby thought bitterly.

"He says he's not a kid." A small voice piped.

Toby looked up again, noticed the red headed freckled boy and couldn't help but smile.

_Hey, George. Howz it hangin?_

"He asked me how I'm doing." George dutifully reported. George flashed a look of apology and Toby flashed a brief smile back. George was just a kid, only eleven years old, and Toby didn't have to be a mind reader to know that Wickman terrified him.

"How long do you think you can keep this up, Adam?"

Toby felt a surge of anger at the man's stubborn insistence on calling him by that name but, conscious of George's presence he tried to pull it back behind his mental barriers.

"He's angry but I'm not sure why. He hid the thought."

"And, of course, you can't read what Adam hides." The man didn't sound upset. In fact, he sounded pleased.

He squatted down on the floor across from where Toby sat against the wall.

"You really are everything we'd hoped for and more Adam."

"My name is not Adam." Toby's voice was rough from disuse. It cracked and broke but still managed to convey his anger at the man.

"He speaks." Wickman smiled.

Toby mentally cursed himself.

"He's mad at himself." George said.

"I'll bet he is." Wickman's smile grew even larger. "You can fight it Adam but this is where you belong. This is where you were created. It's where you're meant to be. I've looked for you for 26 years. I've waited 26 years for you. You can fight me for a year, five years, maybe even ten but eventually you'll give in to the inevitable. We're doing good here and you will help. How long you rot in here being stubborn is entirely up to you."

This time Toby kept his eyes on the floor, refusing to be baited. Wickman reached out a hand as though to pat Toby's head but Toby jerked it away.

"Adam, I hate to see you like this. We're doing good here. You can be a part of that. Your birth was no accident. You have a purpose and a destiny. Stop fighting it. Stop fighting me. I will win. The longer you drag this out, the more you suffer."

Toby didn't answer and kept his thoughts safely hidden and subdued.

"Very well." Wickman sighed. "Have it your way. I'll give you, let's see, two days to think it over. Rivers?" He called out.

"Yeah, boss?" A voice from somewhere in the hall called back.

"Adam doesn't feel like visitors. No food or water until Wednesday." He said as he straightened and headed for the door. He paused as he started to walk through it. "Oh and Rivers?"

"Yeah, boss?"

"I don't think he'll be needing any light either."

Toby gulped involuntarily, his mind flooded with fear. _I'm never getting out of here._

"He's afraid." George's voice was subdued. "He thinks…" The boy hesitated.

"George." The man's voice was quiet but the boy shuddered.

"He scared he's never going home." George said finally.

"He is home." Toby heard the man say before the door shut and the lights went out.


	6. Desperate Times

Seth watched as Wickman paced the length of his office.

"We can't force the boy to help us, Richard. Be reasonable." Dr. Stephanec pleaded.

"He's just too stubborn." Seth added.

"No, no." Wickman sighed. "The failing is mine. I haven't convinced him." He chuckled. "He is fierce though isn't he? Imagine, just imagine what an asset he would be if I could just convince him."

He clenched his fists. "Why won't he see reason?"

Seth looked around at the occupants of the large office; Dr. Stephanec, almost a picture of the female scientist stereotype with her mousey brown hair in a sloppy bun and thick glasses was inspecting her sensible shoes, and Dr. Williams a man so thickly built he had to have his lab coat special ordered and who always stuck Seth as looking like he'd be more at home on a football field that in the often tight spaces of the laboratories seemed to have found a spot under one of Wickmans famous faces photos extremely interesting.

Dr. Reubens, with his almost translucently pale skin and equally fair hair on the other hand, seemed to be actually considering a solution.

"Give him the implant." He said at last.

"What?" Seth could hardly believe the man's suggestion.

Reubens shrugged. "Perhaps with his ability amplified he won't be able to stop himself reading."

"Because he wouldn't be able to block any thoughts at all." Seth protested. "It'd be torturous. It'd drive him insane."

"He'd do anything to have it removed then, wouldn't he?" Reubens noted.

Seth had known Reubens to be a cold man but hadn't thought him capable of this. He glanced at Wickman expecting to see his own revulsion reflected in the man's face but instead saw that he was actually considering Reubens' plan.

"Peter!" Seth almost yelped. "You can't be considering this? You can't!"

Wickman held up his hands. "What else is there to do, Seth? It's been months. Months of sleep deprivation, starvation, I've used the carrot and the stick. Nothing gets through to him. Short of actual physical torture, which I will not do, I can't think of anything else that might make an impression. Shake him up."

"Peter, don't you see how much worse this would be?" Seth cried. "It won't just get his attention. It could unravel his mind."

He looked desperately to doctors Stephanec and Williams for support but both seemed determined to remain out of the discussion.

"Peter," Seth pleaded. "don't do this. Please don't do this."

A long silence passed in which Seth barely dared to breath.

"I'm sorry, Seth." Wickman said finally. "I just don't see any other way of getting through to him."

Seth's head dropped and angry tears threatened to spill from his eyes. Wickman crossed the room to lay a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"You're too close to this, Seth and you lack experience. Trust me, this will work."

"Who are you trying to convince?" Seth bit out. "I may be only 18 but I know this is wrong. It's worse than wrong, it's pointless."

"That's enough." Wickman said. "I've heard what you had to say and I have made my decision."

Seth knew a dismissal when he heard one.

He stormed out of the office and down the hall toward his quarters. As he neared his room he felt George's mental voice calling.

_What happened?_

_Is Lucy with you?_ Seth projected back.

_Yeah, I'm here._ Lucy replied, her mental voice just as soft and timid as her audible voice.

_They're giving him an implant._

Neither child thought in words but feelings of concern, fear and revulsion buffeted Seth's mind in waves as he changed direction, approaching the common room in which the two children were sitting. Lucy, lovely with her dark hair and luminous blue eyes, seemed to have been writing another of her stories in the open notebook on the table before her. George, red haired and freckled, had a forgotten Nintendo DS in his hand.

"What do we do?" George asked.

_Silent_. Seth warned.

George rolled his eyes but thought, _Same question._

_I don't know._

_He wouldn't really do it. _Lucy's thought was tinged with desperation, disappointment and disbelief. _Peter wouldn't do that to Toby. He couldn't do that. He wants to take care of us. He wants us to fix the world. _

There were tears in the girl's enormous blue eyes.

Both George and Lucy had come to the institute nine years aog at the tender ages of 3 and 4 but both had still acquired memories of terrible treatment due to what the people around them viewed as bizarre and freakish behavior. While Wickman and his scientists could be less than tender, the two still viewed the Institute as a safe haven and Peter Wickman as their savior.

_He will. He is. _Seth affirmed._ They're already prepping the OR._

George rolled his eyes again. _So, same question._

Seth considered George's 'same question' carefully.

_There's only one thing we can do. We have to help him escape._

Both children gave off feelings of fear.

_You mean,_ Lucy thought, _go_ _out there? _

Seth caught a flash of a memory from her.

A woman's hand

Bright blue nails

Stinging blows

_You don't have to leave. _Seth reassured her. _Neither one of you__ have to leave. We just have to get him out._

There was one thought he held back. His conviction that Toby wouldn't be able to get free alone. One of them would have to guide him.

Seth inadvertently looked around the common room, a large round room with three curved tables arranged in a circle in the center. Games, art supplies, brightly colored wall murals and a television with various gaming consuls arranged around it completed the effect of a room designed for social interaction among children.

Given George and Lucy's negative experiences Seth had always considered himself lucky that this and the other rooms of the Institute were all he'd ever known. Now, he suddenly wished he had at least some experience in the real world because he'd already decided; he was going to take Toby home.


	7. Lay Me Down To Sleep

Toby sat on the bed in his cell. He had given up on sitting on the floor, when was it? A week ago? A month ago? He had completely lost any grasp on the passage of time. He wouldn't have thought that to be so disconcerting but it was a constant irritation. He was so accustomed to knowing the exact time. Now he not only didn't know what time it was, he didn't know what day of the week it was.

He'd also given up not speaking to Wickman. He'd made a deal. He'd talk if Wickman would stop bringing in the kids. One more compromise.

_How many more will I be willing to make?_ He asked himself.

He found himself thinking, not for the first time, _How is what Wickman wants to do any different from what I've been doing? I follow clues and leads I get from my gift. I hunt people down._

Toby shook his head, rejecting the thought.

_No, I help people. _

But Wickman said that was his motive, too. He just had a more ambitious scope, right? So, what was the real difference.

_Charlie _Toby thought, but it was more than that. It was all that Charlie represented. How many times had she said, "I need more than that, Toby." "What if you're wrong, Toby?"

Yeah, Charlie kept him honest. She kept him digging because she was loyal to the law and the system. The system existed to keep everything in check. Wickman couldn't just dismantle a system the whole population of Canada had agreed upon because he had personal complaints.

And who was going to run this new world of his? Wickman, of course. Wickman, who thought that occasional sacrifices were not only inevitable but, what was it he'd said? Necessary.

Suddenly, the conversation he and Oz had the day they'd picked up Professor Wallace popped into his head. What had Toby said to Oz?

_I believe every human life is sacred._ Something like that, right? It was true. The memory seemed to refresh Toby and drive all Wickman's arguments and reasoning back to the back of his mind where it belonged.

He sighed in anxious relief suddenly terrified at how close he'd come to giving in to Wickman's twisted logic. How much longer could he keep this up? Would he one day forget who he was and become Adam, the tool Wickman had created?

His train of thought was interrupted by the distinctive sound of the key working the door to his cell.

Brian walked in. Toby smiled sadly at the man who only frowned. Brian had been one of a two man team sent to manhandle Toby into a lab in which the mousey doc with the glasses had scanned his brain output while various people sent thoughts at him as loud as possible; the point being to see how his brain wavelength changed in response to the interaction with the wavelength of others.

Toby had been sick of the testing and of being a prisoner in general. He didn't remember making the conscious decision to fight the two men, both of whom were much, much larger than he, but Brian had roughly grabbed his arm to pull him forward and something had just snapped. The end result had been that Toby had been tested with a few bruises and a cracked rib and Brian had gotten the rest of the day off to have his broken nose tended.

Needless to say, Toby was not Brian's favorite person.

"Hi, Bri." Toby said cheerfully. "How's the snoz?"

"You gonna be trouble?" Brian said half reaching for the tazer he now carried.

Toby held up his hands. "No sir, officer." He said, trying to infuse a little comedy into the tense situation. "I'll come quietly."

Toby stepped forward and into the hall.

_Poor SOB._

The thought from Brian lumbering over his relaxed barrier was so unexpected Toby stopped cold in his tracks.

"What?" He said, unable to contain his curiosity. "Why?"

Brian gulped. "Just move it."

But Toby was focusing, actually making an effort to read the large man's mind.

_Can't stand all this. Can't even think without getting in trouble. The big man won't like it… shit, he's probably reading me right now. Beer. Milk. Eggs. Bread. I need some of that yogurt, whatchamacalit, Alley'll kill me if I get the wrong yogurt again…_

Toby gave up on trying to read the big man's mind as he continued to work through his shopping list the rest of the way to what looked like an examination room.

But Toby hoped the next person to come into contact with him wouldn't know to be guarded. After all, Toby was kind of known for trying to block out thoughts, a truly bizarre behavior in the Institute.

The big scientist, Williams, that was his name entered the room with a grim expression.

…_should have said something. If it works though…don't want to be on Wickman's bad side. But what if it doesn't work? What if we completely fry him? How happy is Wickman gonna be then?_

"What are you going to do to me?" Toby asked and in desperation his mind or sense or power, whatever it was, seemed to be reaching forward. He could actually see it. It looked like the strange glowy light that had seemed to come out of Iris' hands when she'd been trying to heal people. It stretched out from Toby and toward the big doctor and suddenly Toby could see what they planned. He could see the operation from Williams' point of view. He could even see himself as Williams feared he would be.

Toby recoiled from the vision.

"No." He breathed and ran.

He didn't get far. How could he? The Institute was a windowless maze but Toby wasn't thinking about that. He was acting on instinct.

Brian and a few of his friends finally cornered him, taking him down with their tazers. They carried him back, literally kicking and screaming, to the small room which apparently was a prep room for the OR. Toby had pleaded with them, anyone who came into the room.

He was beyond pride, consumed with dread. He begged them not to do it.

Still, in what seemed no time at all he was strapped to a gurney, naked under the thick sheets and being wheeled into an operating room. There he was confronted by half a dozen masked faces.

"Please, please don't do this. Please!" Toby begged.

Brown eyes above a surgical mask looked sad but determined. Then Toby was given a mask of his own.

"Please…" He managed before the anesthesia took effect and left him at their mercy.

**To be continued...**


	8. A Friend in Need

**Some of you may have been wondering where the rest of the Scooby Gang has been. That's one of the things that bugged me about this story but now (finally) I get to write Charlie, Liv and Oz again. YAY!**

* * *

Detective Charlie Marks did _not_ look at the desk drawer that contained the Toby Logan file. She stared dutifully at the B&E file on her desk. The file she was paid to look at, she reminded herself.

She read, then re-read the witness' description of what was taken. She got to the end of the boring litany and then almost grunted in frustration as she realized that, once again, nothing had seemed to stick.

Maybe the third time would be the charm.

_Or maybe you should just pull that damn file out, torture yourself and get it out of your system._

Charlie sighed in defeat and pulled out the file. She glanced at the clock. At least she'd made it to noon today.

The file was a bit worse for wear. Well, it would be wouldn't it? She did pull it out and go through it every once in a while. Okay, she pulled it out at least once a day, sometimes two or three times a day.

She'd pour over the scant evidence hoping against hope that there was something she had missed but there never was. Toby was gone. The ending of the story the file told was as mysterious as it's beginning. On paper, Toby seemed like a ghost. He appeared out of nowhere and disappeared without a trace.

She looked at the picture pinned to the first page. Toby was dressed in his EMS uniform. You could tell that he was meant to be serious, no smiles in official photos after all, but even though his lips were neutral you could tell he was smiling. It was in his eyes.

_Where are you?_

Charlie knew the thought was one of those 'loud' thoughts Toby always talked about. If he were here he'd have heard it like she'd yelled it across the room. That's the way it was with emotional thoughts, right? She imagined Toby saying something like, "Sorry, I couldn't help it. You were so sad and angry it broke right through."

Charlie heaved a sigh that made her eyes prick.

_That's enough._

She closed the file and put it back in her desk.

Four months without a break in the case. They hadn't even had a new lead in three. Tomorrow the invisible clock would run out and it would officially decrease in priority.

Her land line rang on her desk and Charlie was glad of the distraction.

"Detective Marks." She said, her voice a little too loud.

"Charlie?" It was Olivia. Oddly, she and Charlie had grown much closer over the past four months. Maybe it wasn't that odd after all.

"Yeah, Liv. What's up?"

"I think I may have something." Olivia's voice was cool, overly cool. As though she were schooling herself not to be excited. "I think I might have some new information on Toby's case."

Charlie bolted up, straining the phone's cord to its limit and almost losing her grip on the receiver.

"Hospital?" She asked.

"Yeah, ER." Liv answered.

"On my way." She replaced the phone, none too gently and strode forward but then paused. She hesitated a moment and then half walked half jogged back to her desk. She dug out Toby's file and then turned back to the exit.

When Charlie arrived at the hospital, Oz was waiting for her. It was odd for Charlie to see him out of uniform. She realized suddenly that she had little to no contact with Oz outside of work settings.

"Liv's waiting for you." Oz said breathlessly and Charlie didn't have to be a mind reader to know he was excited.

Olivia had apparently set up shop in an empty patient room on the first floor. The bed was covered with three files; one looked pristine but the other two were well worn and dog-eared. Charlie looked closer and realized they were the patient files for both Toby and Oz.

_Looks like I'm not the only one who couldn't leave it alone._

Charlie looked closer at the name on the third file, Andrea Wallace. Why was that name familiar?

"Good!" Liv exclaimed looking up from what appeared to be deep concentration. "You're here. I think I've found something that might help us find out where Toby is."

"Yeah, you said as much on the phone." Charlie said. "Enough with the build up, what is it?"

"I can't believe I didn't think of it before." Liv sighed. "I was looking at Toby's file and Oz's but I didn't look at the patient's."

"What patient?" Charlie asked.

"The lady we were bringing in when Toby, you know, freaked out and went into a coma." Oz answered.

"Okay?" Charlie prodded.

"See," Oz continued with the story, "we were picking her up for a hemangioma. But later, it wasn't there."

"What's a hemangioma?" Charlie.

"Benign tumor on a blood vessel, doesn't matter." Oz summarized. "The point is, they don't just go away. Those suckers'll bleed and bleed until they're cauterized."

"I'm sorry." Charlie said, a bit frustrated. "I'm not getting it. What does that have to do with Toby?"

"There's no mention of the hemangioma at all in Wallace's patient file. It's only in Oz's report. It wasn't even noted, much less treated. I checked and the lab still had a sample of Wallace's blood taken during admission. I sent it to toxicology looking for blood thinners and got a hit." Olivia said as though that made everything clear.

Charlie almost growled in frustration. "I don't get it guys. How does that help us?"

Olivia and Oz exchanged glances; clearly not understanding how Charlie could not be getting this and Charlie grit her teeth.

"She never had a hemangioma. Toby's the one that examined her but I remember him saying it was unusually large. Now we find out she was taking a blood thinner. Don you get it? All of this started with that call." Oz said. "It all started with the hemangioma. If the hemangioma wasn't real…"

"It was a set up." Charlie finished for him, suddenly grasping what the medically minded Oz and Olivia had seen straightaway. "The whole thing was a set up."

"So, Dr. Wallace was in on it." Olivia fairly gushed. "She knows where Toby is."

Charlie opened her mouth to ask a question but Oz was already answering it.

"I called the school." He said quickly. "Dr. Wallace has office hours today from noon to two."

Charlie felt a fierce grin spread slowly and unbidden across her face.

"You're driving." Oz said as Olivia gathered together the three patient files and they both headed for the door.

"Wait a minute." Charlie warned. "You're staying here. I'll go question Dr. Wallace."

"Charlie," Olivia said quietly, "You and I have gotten to know each other I think pretty well since Toby went missing. You know how much he means to me. If you think for one second that I'm going to sit here while you chase down the one lead we've had in three months alone; a lead, I might add, that I found, you're out of you damn mind."

Charlie looked at the determined expressions on both Oz and Olivia's faces.

"Okay," She said at last. "I'm driving."

"Shotgun!" Oz called.

* * *

Olivia, Charlie and Oz had all carefully constructed what they called 'thought scenarios' in the car. They'd invented student characters to play in their minds to make sure Dr. Wallace didn't mentally hear them coming for answers. Liv didn't try not to think about Toby. Instead she focused very hard on thinking about her imaginary German test and started running through sentences using reflexive pronouns.

Oz led them straight to the professor's room, and Liv was grateful he knew where it was. Who knows what kind of thought one of them might have let slip if they'd had to stop and ask for directions. The office door was open.

As they approached Liv could hear a conversation going on inside.

"You're still writing a paper about Wisliciny's history, Danny. I want you to write a paper about the history written about Wisliciny. Do you see the difference?"

"No." The student, a young man in a truly dazzlingly bright blue hoody, tight black jeans and a pair of checkered Tom's, replied bluntly.

"I want you to write about what historians have written about him. His image in history has changed dramatically over time. Why? Is it because the facts have changed or is it merely that society's interpretation of the same old facts has changed? If so, why? What's different now?"

"So, the paper isn't really about Wisliceny at all." Danny said hesitantly. "It's about us…I mean, about historians."

"Exactly."

Liv could see through the open doorway now. She could see the woman smiling proudly at Danny, her student.

This was the woman who had taken Toby away, dragged him off to who knows where, and there she sat smiling happily as though nothing were wrong.

Liv felt an intense hatred for the woman and realized, as the smile vanished from Wallace's face, that with that feeling of hatred she had given them all away. But, Liv thought smugly, it was too late. The good doctor wasn't going anywhere.

"Um, Danny." Wallace said, her voice strained. "I'm very sorry but I'm going to have to cut this a little short. I was beginning to think they were never coming but I have an overdue appointment.

_Damn right you do. _Liv thought bitterly, not caring that it would almost certainly be overheard.

Danny looked up at the three people standing in the doorway and frowned briefly.

"Oh, uh, no prob." He said. "Actually, I think I finally get it. I'm pretty sure I'll have my outline ready for the deadline. Thanks, Professor Wallace."

"You're welcome, Danny." She said with a hint of sadness. "You really do have a gift for this. I hope you remember that."

The words struck Liv as a good-bye. They must have seemed odd to Danny as well because he frowned again.

"Professor Wallace are you okay?" He said, glancing suspiciously at Liv and her companions.

"Yes, yes, Danny." Wallace said smiling. "But I do need to see to these people."

Danny hesitated.

"Scoot, young man!" Wallace said dismissing him firmly. "You've got a lot of work to do if you want to meet that deadline. Go."

"Um, okay." Danny submitted reluctantly. "See you in class."

When he was out of earshot Charlie stepped into the room and Liv and Oz followed, flanking her.

"You know who we are." Charlie said sternly, and live noted she was definitely in her hard-as-nails-bitch mode.

_Good._

Wallace sighed as though exhausted.

"Yes." She admitted.

"Where is he?" Liv demanded. "Where's Toby?" Her voice broke on the last question and she hated herself for it, for being weak.

But her tone seemed to have an effect on Wallace who turned to stare at Liv with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." She said finally. "I … I didn't … I just couldn't go back there. So, I…I gave him Toby instead."

"Who?" Charlie asked, her voice like steel.

"Wickman." Wallace whispered. She glanced at each of their faces. "I can tell you where he is but that" she nodded her head at the badge on Charlie's belt. "won't do you any good. He's a wealthy man with many powerful friends. You'll never get a warrant."

Charlie straightened, removed the badge and placed it in her pocket.

She leaned forward over the desk and asked slowly, "Now, where the hell is Toby?"

**To be continued...**


	9. Broken Bonds

**Sorry about the delay in posting this chapter. I was sick yesterday. Hope it was worth the wait.**

* * *

Seth hurried down the hall. _No, no, no!_

He burst through the door to the viewing gallery of the operating room and almost cried out at what he saw. Toby was laid out face first on the operating table. A large patch of his head had been shaved and the doctors had already made their incisions and removed a piece of his skull. Seth's eyes raked the various trays until he found it, the implant.

His head dropped.

"I didn't think you'd care to watch." A familiar voice said quietly and Seth jumped, startled.

Wickman stood to one side, half in shadow looking down at the operation.

"I thought," Seth began, still slightly out of breath, "I thought the operation wasn't until tomorrow."

"Yes, well, the missing component arrived this morning and I thought, why put off till tomorrow what you can do today?" The man said nonchalantly.

Seth kept his features still, mentally schooling himself to not reveal any of his frustration or disappointment. He knew the plan cut things too close but he hadn't had a choice. There was no way to get everything in place in time. They'd had to schedule the escape for the night before the operation. He wanted to cry or scream. He wanted to rush into the OR, grab Toby and just run. He settled for clenching and unclenching his fists.

A hand gripped his shoulder gently and Seth resisted the urge to pull away.

"This is necessary, Seth. I didn't want this. I gave him every opportunity to make the right choice."

A sudden realization struck Seth and he pulled away, looking into the man he'd come to think of as a father with revulsion and disbelief. "You know." He said at last. "You've known from the start this wouldn't work. You don't care."

Seth expected to see shame, sadness, regret, something in the man's expression but Wickman was calm and composed.

"Some sacrifices must be made." He said evenly. "We are making a new world, Seth. No one person is more important than that, not even Adam."

"You don't care." Seth said. "You don't care about any of us."

"That's not true." Wickman said and took a step toward Seth but stopped when Seth took an inadvertent step back. "I care, Seth. But I have to do what's right, even if it means breaking my own heart. Even if it means sacrificing Adam."

"What about me?" Seth demanded. "Am I disposable, too?"

Wickman's face was no longer void of emotion. Seth could see real pain there. "Seth," He said at last, "you're my son. I could never hurt you."

"You have hurt me, Peter." Seth cried. "Don't you see that? You're torturing my friend!"

"Seth," Wickman took another step forward but Seth turned his back and all but fled from the room.

He needed a new plan.

* * *

Oz sat in the back seat with the professor. He wished again that Charlie had taken him up on his offer to drive as he tried not to fidget. Everyone was tense and no one was talking. This wasn't really a chit chat sort of outing. In other words, it wasn't really an Oz sort of outing.

He glanced over at the professor again. _**She**_ was fidgeting. His mind went back to the confrontation they'd had in her office. In his mind he saw Charlie leaning menacingly over the woman's desk again and demanding to know where Toby was.

"I can't tell you." Wallace'd said.

"That's it." Charlie'd growled. "I'm taking you in. You think I can't? I'll charge you with impeding an investigation, conspiracy and as an accessory to kidnapping. I may not have enough to make it all stick but based on the medical records and your admissions in front of these two very credible witnesses I've got enough of a case to take it to a prosecutor." She'd pulled out her handcuffs. "Get up."

"You misunderstand me." The woman'd said quietly, holding up her hands. "I can help you find him, I think. I just don't know exactly where he is. There are several places…" Her voice had trailed off and she'd closed her eyes in a defeated way. "We'll have to get some help."

"Help?" Oz'd asked then. "Who could help us?" He'd thought about it another second. "Who would? We're all Toby's got."

"No." Professor Wallace had almost whispered. "You're not the only ones who care about him."

Then she'd done the most unexpected thing. She'd started crying.

* * *

"I think we're here." Charlie said, slowing her sedan. A dirt drive was leading off the road to the left about 50 meters ahead.

"Yes," Wallace said, "Yes, that's it."

Oz saw Charlie's eyes in the rear view mirror, narrowed and evaluating. She'd made no secret of her continued distrust regarding Wallace. But, then again, what was the point in trying to hide it? Wallace was, after all, a telepath.

The drive was long…and muddy. Oz thought suddenly of what they'd do if the car got stuck. '_Hello, AAA? Yeah, our car is stuck. … Yeah, the drive of the mind reader's secret hide out. … Yep, that's the one._'

Wallace chuckled and Oz glanced nervously at her.

Having his thoughts read by Toby was one thing. He trusted Toby. He _liked_ Toby. He remembered Toby once asked him if it felt like a violation, having him in his head sometimes. Oz had been honest. It could be freaky but it was never a violation.

He glanced again at Wallace who had her face turned to the window.

With her, it felt wrong. He felt wronged. When they found Toby, he hoped he never crossed this woman's path again.

The car slowed to a stop outside a small rustic looking house.

"Smoke coming from the chimney." Oz commented.

"You should probably let me get out first." Wallace said. "I can let them know you're coming and who you are."

"No." Charlie said, the single word brooking no argument.

_She really doesn't like this lady._ Oz thought. He didn't like not liking people. He generally tried to find a way to like everyone but every time he thought about Toby, about how much Liv missed him, about what he might have suffered, a deep feeling, closer to actual hatred than Oz had ever come in his life, boiled his blood. He took a breath.

"They're mind readers, right?" Oz said, feeling the need to ease some of the tension. "They'll know who we are before we even get to the door."

This time when Charlie looked in the mirror, it was Oz she was glaring at.

"Let's go." She ordered.

As soon as they had all exited the vehicle Oz heard a male voice say calmly from somewhere behind them, "That's far enough."

A woman appeared on the porch carrying a rifle. It was pointed in their direction but at least the barrel was lowered.

"Detective, I'd like you to do me a favor; remove your gun slowly and place it on the ground, please."

_At least they're polite._ Oz thought.

Charlie hesitated and the woman said, "Yes, it does go against your training but we have what you'd call trust issues, young lady. You've got a choice: Put down the gun and talk or keep it and leave."

Oz felt a momentary panic. _We have to find Toby! __Please let her put the gun down. Please let her put the gun down. C'mon, Charlie. Don't be such a hard ass!_

Charlie grunted but pulled the gun out and, holding it by her fingertips, laid it on a patch of grass near the muddy drive.

"Happy?" She called.

"Not exactly," The woman glared at Wallace. "But now, at least we can talk." She shifted the rifle, letting it hang casually from her elbow. "C'mon inside."

Oz finally dared to look behind him. The man who'd spoken was tall and lanky with dark, silver streaked hair. He smiled briefly and gestured apologetically with the handgun he was carrying. "Sorry about all this but we gotta be pretty careful."

"I can imagine." Oz said, wanting to like the man and hoping like hell he'd be able to help them find Toby.

"I'm Oz." He said. "Osman, actually, but everybody calls me Oz 'cept my Mom."

The man smiled. "Hi there, Oz. My name's Alex."

Oz extended his right hand and the man unthinkingly reached out to shake it with the hand holding the gun, practically placing it in Oz's hand.

_Shit!_

Thought Oz, jerking his hand back and holding it and his left hand up in the air.

"Jeez, sorry man." He said quickly. "I didn't mean it. I swear."

Alex blushed. "Not your fault." He said gruffly. "I'm not used to taking prisoners."

"Well," Oz said, grinning and trying to make the tall man feel better. "from where I'm standing that's a good thing."

Alex smiled and leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially. "If it were up to me, I'd put it away but Maya's a little jumpy."

Oz could actually feel blood draining from his head.

"Did you say Maya?" He blurted. _Toby's MOM?_

He jerked around to look at the small dark haired woman ushering Liv, Charlie and Wallace into the house.

_Holy crap! Toby's Mom! Wait 'till I tell him. _

He turned back to Alex who was staring at him thoughtfully.

"I think we'd best be getting inside, don't you?"

"Oh," Oz started. "Right. Right."

"After you." Alex gestured with the gun.

Oz walked quickly up the stone path to the front door, grabbing Liv's arm and whispering, "The woman with the rifle, she's Toby's Mom."

"What?" Liv yelped and Oz shushed her. "How do you know?" Liv said in a whisper.

"Alex called her Maya." Oz said quickly and quietly.

Liv looked like she'd like to ask a thousand questions, a bit like Oz imagined he looked, but said nothing. They'd all agreed that Wallace and Charlie would do the talking.

"Let's even the playing field." Maya said. "Your friends, detective, have just discovered that I am your friend Toby's mother."

Oz had to give Charlie credit, her only reaction was her eyes got slightly larger for a moment.

"Amber here," She gestured to the woman they'd known as Andrea Wallace, "knows that Alex is Toby's father."

Oz turned to examine the man anew, now looking for a resemblance to his friend. The man smiled shyly under the sudden scrutiny and Oz decided that was it. They had the same smile. Looking at Toby's smile on a stranger's face suddenly made him miss his friend so much it hurt.

Maya gave a little gasp.

"That's enough." She said aloud, looking straight at Oz. "I trust them."

"Maya," Wallace began but Maya interrupted.

"I trust them, Amber, not you." She said quietly but the words dripped with venom.

Wallace's head dropped to her chest.

"Do you know where he is?" Charlie asked bluntly.

_That's our Charlie. Straight to the point._

"We do." Alex said.

"We think we do." Maya corrected. "But even if we're right getting him out is going to be tricky. Especially if we don't know where in the building he's being held. We'll need to do some reconnaissance."

"No, what we need to do is get him out." Alex protested. "He's been there for months, Maya. Who knows what Wickman has done to him."

"Wickman won't hurt him." Maya said. "He wants what David can do."

"That's what you _think_." Alex argued. "I'm not going to just stand here while you gamble with our son's life."

"Oh, he's our son now?" Maya said furiously.

Alex flushed. "I'm sorry. How many times can I say I'm sorry? I was a kid, Maya. I was freaked out."

"_So was I!"_ The small woman screeched. "I was a kid and pregnant and alone. Freaked out doesn't even come close to it. I wondered if he would be born with two heads or some kind of life threatening physical problem. I didn't know. I gave birth in a hotel bathroom with no pain medicine and only an 11 year old girl to help me. _You_ were freaked out?"

Alex dropped his head breathing slowly. "I'm sorry, Maya. I'm so very sorry."

"Forget it." She barked. "I shouldn't have brought it up. We need to focus on how to get him out. It won't do David any good for us to run in without a plan and get ourselves caught. We need to check out the place, find out where he is and make a plan, a good plan, to get him out."

"What about her?" Alex asked, jerking his head toward Wallace.

Maya turned her attention to the shaking woman.

"After this is over, we'll abandon this place." She said slowly as though pronouncing sentence. "We will change the codes and contact instructions." Wallace stifled a groan. "I won't hurt you, Amber. I owe you for David's birth but you turned on us…"

"No!" Wallace or Amber wailed, tears streaming from her eyes. "Not you, I did this for you."

Maya seemed to lose control. Growling she crossed the room in two long strides. She grabbed the weeping woman by the shoulder and shook her violently. "For me! You gave that monster my _son_ and you dare tell me you did it _FOR ME!_"

"I'm sorry." Wallace wailed. "I knew…I knew if he took me in and got me around other readers they'd find out about the codes. They'd know how to catch you, all of you."

Maya dropped the woman as though she had mistakenly picked up a piece of trash and turned to the window. Alex walked up and crouched on the floor next to Wallace.

"You can't lie, Amber." He tapped his forehead.

She looked up at him her tear stained face etched with misery and Oz couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"I get it." Alex said softly. "I can understand."

There was a little hope in Wallace's eyes now.

"No." Alex seemed to answer a question Oz couldn't hear. "I don't forgive you. I can't. He's my son."

Wallace put her head into her hands, shuddering with near silent sobs.

"Enough of this." Maya barked. "Let's go into the kitchen. We need a plan."

**To be continued...**


	10. Fully Known

**"Now I know in part, then I shall be known fully; even as I am fully known." I Cor. 13:12**

* * *

Dr. Reubens squared his shoulders as he faced the heavy oak door to Wickman's office, preparing himself for the reprimand that he knew awaited him. The experiment of giving Adam an implant had been a colossal failure.

The young man had been able to do nothing but moan and writhe for the initial 4 to 6 hours at which point he had started ripping out his stitches in an apparent attempt to remove the implant himself. Reubens had him put in restraints and sedated. When the sedation wore off, Adam had been catatonic for a period and then it seemed he was speaking the thoughts of random people around the institute. It was downright eerie; like the person he had been no longer existed and all that was left was a sort of mental radio with no dial to set the station.

Reubens thought of his patient's lifeless eyes and droning voice and shuddered. He hoped removing the implant as soon as possible might salvage the boy's sanity and person but was doubtful. The scans were extraordinary but in the most grim way. The frequency they had identified as Adam's was completely absent. In the past, when they recorded his 'reading' of others thoughts his own brain frequency modified briefly to that of the person being read. Now, it was like he had no mind of his own. His brain constantly shifted from one foreign frequency to another with no pause, no time for Adam. In other words, when Adam's brain wasn't processing the thoughts of others it was effectively dead.

It was possible that if they removed the implant, the boy would die. In his darkest dreams Reubens had never imagined he might kill Adam. Wickman was, no doubt, furious and rightly so.

_Enough. Get it over with._

He knocked on the door.

"Ah, Richard." Wickman greeted him with a smile. "Has there been some change in Adam's condition?"

"No, sir." Reubens replied. "I've given orders to prep the OR but I wanted to go over in person the risks involved in removing the implant."

"Why would we remove the implant?" Wickman asked.

Reubens was shocked into momentary silence by the question.

"What?" He asked, suddenly sure he had misheard.

"Why would we remove the implant?" Wickman repeated, speaking slowly. "It appears to me that the experiment has been an incredible success. Adam has been able to read anyone in not quite a 12 mile radius with seeming ease. The fact that we can't direct him to focus on a specific person is a problem but for which I'm confident we can find a solution."

"I don't think you understand," Reubens said. "His mind is completely overwhelmed. With the implant, there is no Adam. It's like the thoughts of others have completely supplanted his own."

"Yet, he still reads thoughts and relays them back to us." Wickman said. "You must admit that's more useful than him sulking in a cell."

Reubens' stomach turned. "Sir, let me remove the implant. I'm sure after this experience he will cooperate."

"Yes, well, the problem with that is I've read your report." Wickman said, picking up a file Reubens recognized as his most recent analysis of Adam's condition and outlook. "It seems that removing the implant might kill him?"

Reubens gulped. "It is a possible outcome."

"Well, he's even less use to us dead than he is sulking." Wickman said, dismissively tossing the file back on his desk. "It's not worth the risk."

Reubens searched through his mind for a sound and reasonable argument but all that came out of his mouth was, "We can't, sir. It's cruel. It's barbaric."

"It's necessary." Wickman said in a voice of frigid steel. "I gave him every opportunity to help us, to do what he was created to do. This was his choice."

"But…"

Wickman interrupted. "I've made my decision. If that is all, you may leave."

"Yes, sir." Reubens replied numbly and left.

His mind reeled. He thought back to his early days with the institute. It was true over the years he had done some questionable things, things of which he wasn't very proud but this was far and beyond any of that. He came out of his melancholy reverie and realized he had been unconsciously making his way to Adam's new room.

_I need a cigarette._

He turned away from the young man he had both helped create and destroy. It was more than nicotine he needed. He needed to get out of the Institute. He needed to get out of its oppressive, claustrophobic maze and into the sunshine. He needed to think.

He was perhaps 20 meters from the exit when the alarms sounded and Briggs' voice came over the building intercom.

"Someone is attempting an unauthorized absence. Secure all exits. Repeat, there is an unauthorized absence in progress. Secure all exits."

Reubens found himself sneering at the euphemistic announcement. Realizing that he had let words like 'unauthorized absence' blind him to the darker aspects of this place. It wasn't an 'unauthorized absence', it was an escape. And 'guests' and 'patients' didn't typically escape, prisoners and subjects did. How had this happened? How had he become such a monster?

He continued walking toward the exit when Seth turned the corner down the hall. He had a bandaged and mumbling Adam slung over his shoulder and one of the children, George from the hair, was trying to help support them both. Seth looked up and met Reubens' eyes, his face filling with dread and disappointment.

Reubens considered only a moment before dropping Seth's gaze and taking the remaining two steps to the door. He pulled out his security card, held it to the scanner and unlocked the door. He turned back to meet Seth's eyes again and held it open.

The disbelief he saw in the boys face was a cruel indictment. Seth was hesitating, probably not sure if he could trust Reubens.

"Go on." Reubens shouted. "You don't have much time."

Seth made a decision and began shuffling awkwardly forward. When he reached the door, Reubens took out his car keys.

"Take these and my card." He said placing both into Seth's hands. "I drive a silver blue RX8. It's in the rear lot. They don't monitor that lot very closely, even in emergencies. If you use the card, you should be able to get off campus long before anyone notices."

Seth was frowning, "Why?"

Reubens blushed, suddenly almost overwhelmed with shame. "Wickman wasn't going to remove the implant. I didn't want this. Please tell Adam. I didn't want this."

Seth nodded. "I'll tell him. I just hope he'll hear me."

"I hope so, too."

"Thank you, Dr. Reubens." A tiny voice piped and Reubens looked down to see Lucy had been tagging along behind the trio.

"I'm so sorry, Lucy." He confessed, fighting back tears.

She patted his arm. "Don't cry, Dr. Reubens. We'll be okay."

He chuckled and pet her dark hair briefly, then gave her a light shove toward the door. "Hurry now."

She rushed out the door but looked back as it closed and smiled. "Bye." Her small voice called.

Reubens had bent slightly forward as though to receive that last good-bye. Now he straightened with resolve. Wickman had shown his true colors. The man didn't care about justice. He only wanted power. If it was that last thing Reubens ever did, he was going to bring this place down, and Wickman down with it.


	11. All In

**Sorry I've been so slow on the updates lately. Today was National History Day and I had to just a research expo. The story is near the end though. Soon all will be revealed and resolved. Thanks for your patience.**

* * *

Oz sat and tried to be patient as he waited for his turn to use the binoculars. He also tried not to be irked by the fact that he was once again sitting in the passenger's seat. Over the last few years he had become quite accustomed to the understood status of driver. He drove the ambulance and anytime Toby and he went somewhere together, they took his car. It made sense that he was always the one driving.

His new partner assigned in Toby's absence insisted he was more comfortable driving and Oz, trying not to cause problems, relinquished the wheel. Charlie was far too much of a control freak to let someone else drive. He glanced at petite woman who currently occupied the driver's seat of the dark blue sedan. Maya was studying the fuzzy, sprawly looking building in the distance. Oz almost shuddered when he considered asking her to let him drive. She intimidated him even more than Charlie.

"I'd have let you drive if you'd asked, you know." Maya said casually, still looking through the binoculars.

"Don't _do_ that." Oz blurted. "It's okay when Toby does it because… well, he's Toby. He's my partner. I trust _him_ with my life. I don't even _know_ you."

"You know I'm his mother." Maya suggested.

_Yeah, the mother who abandoned him._ Oz thought with a flash of anger, seeing once again in his mind the longing that would flash unbidden in Toby's expressions whenever he spent time with Oz's family.

He instantly regretted the thought as his eyes darted to the back of Maya's head.

"It's fine." She said stiffly. "I can see your side of it. I did what I thought was best for him. I have to live with the consequences."

"I'm sorry." Oz said quietly. "That was one of those things you think but would never say out loud, you know?"

"What is it they say?" Maya pulled the binoculars down and looked at Oz with a sad smile. "If you eavesdrop you may not like what you hear?"

"Sounds about right."

She handed him the binoculars and using them the fuzzy building came into focus. It looked like a leggy version of the American pentagon building with several long wings branching out of a central, almost round building.

"Is there any way to tell where in this place Toby is?" Oz asked.

"I'm not ever sure he's there. It is the most likely though." Maya said.

After a pause she continued. "I know it makes you uncomfortable but I've got to admit I enjoy eavesdropping on you, even when you think less than complimentary things about me. It's hard to explain but it's nice to see David through your memories. He looks peaceful, happy."

"I've been meaning to ask you. Why do you keep calling him David?"

"That was his name before they found us and took his brother. I named him David and his brother Jonathan." She seemed thoughtful. "Wickman used to tell these stories about Biblical and historic figures. He told the story of King Saul and how he hunted David thinking David wanted to be king but Jonathan, Saul's son, and David became friends. They were like brothers and Jonathan saved David's life."

She smiled at Oz. "I think he was trying to teach us something about subversion but all I latched onto was how much they cared about each other. How they wanted to protect each other. So, I named my boys after them. I guess hoping they would care about each other in the same way."

Oz was about to answer her when he noticed something. People began moving more quickly, as though reacting to something he either couldn't see or hear.

"Hey, something's up." He announced and then immediately regretted doing so as Maya snatched the binoculars imperiously out of his hands.

"Lights." She reported. "I think..I think it's an escape."

Oz willed himself to be quiet and let her concentrate.

"Oh my… It's David! He's being supported by someone. It looks like kids."

Oz couldn't contain himself. "Which way are they going? Is someone chasing them?"

_Is he okay?_

"They're heading to a parking lot. Okay, they're in a silver RX8 and heading for the west gate. If we take the Browder road and head east we should be able to intersect them."

She started the car.

"Call the others."

* * *

Seth looked in the rear view mirror…again. He couldn't seem to stop but so far no one was following them.

"Seth!" George's voice had an edge of panic. "Toby's head is bleeding."

"Don't freak out, okay?" Seth called, keeping his eyes on the road. "We probably just pulled a stitch or two when we were getting him out. He'll be fine."

_He'll be fine._

He mentally repeated and then focused on keeping his fears safely hidden.

Seth looked in the rear view mirror again, but this time he was looking at Toby. He looked awful. Seth had given him a sedative because almost since the surgery if Toby were awake he was reading and they needed to keep him quiet while they moved him down the halls.

He was deathly pale, either from the strain of the implant or from his long confinement. It was probably a combination of the two. There was a bandage over part of the large shaved section on his head and blood was indeed starting to seep through but not significantly. He was okay.

"Seth! Look out!" Lucy screamed from the seat next to him and Seth shifted his attention back to the road and slammed on the brakes. A sedan was parked in the road and two people, a small dark haired woman and a large dark haired man, were standing in front of it waving their arms.

Poor George, who apparently had not put on his seat belt, slammed into the back of Seth's seat with a small groan. Seth wanted to turn around and see how both he and Toby were doing but he didn't take his eyes off the strangers in the road.

_Don't be afraid. We're here to help. _

One of the people in the road was a reader. Seth felt his stomach sink. There was no chance of them randomly running into a reader. She had to be someone from the institute.

Just then the large, dark man who had been squinting at the car shouted, "Toby!" and started running toward them.

"Stop!" The woman yelled. "You'll scare them off." The man didn't seem to hear her.

Seth hesitated, his mind processing several things at once. The man had called Toby by his preferred name, not Adam. Seth had never seen him before and he knew everyone who worked at the Institute. This and other not quite right things kept Seth frozen in indecision while the man closed the gap.

Suddenly he had opened the passenger and rear suicide doors.

"Toby, can you hear me?" He asked as he began to examine Toby with practiced and confident hands. "Toby? Toby?"

"He's been drugged. He won't respond." Seth offered.

The man glanced up at Seth.

"Who drugged him?" He demanded.

"I did." Seth confessed then hurried on, "But only so we could get him out, only to keep him quiet."

"Enough." The woman opened Seth's door comanding. "Leave the car. You're coming with us."

"Seth?" Lucy's voice rose with fear. Seth pulled her forward across the center console and, holding her close, got out of the car. George followed them and unabashedly clung to Seth's other side. Seth found himself trying to place himself as much as possible between the children and the strangers.

The woman's expression changed, and while it wasn't exactly warm it wasn't frigid either.

"I'm sorry." She said softly. "I didn't mean to scare you. But we've got to hurry."

"I got Toby." The dark man shouted and Seth turned to see that Toby was slung over his shoulder. "Let's go!"

"If you're coming with us you have to get in the car now." The woman said and turned back to the sedan.

This time Seth didn't hesitate.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	12. Beautiful Stranger

**Once again, I'm sorry I've been updating these last chapters so slowly. It's almost over and I'm going to try to tie everything up soon. Thanks for reading and especially to all the people who have taken the time to write reviews. You're awesome. :)**

* * *

Olivia was being annoying. She was shifting back and forth in her seat. She was tapping her foot. She was driving Charlie insane. Charlie tried to ignore it and failed.

"Olivia." She said sharply.

Olivia looked up at Charlie a little guiltily, stilled her tapping feet and folded her hands in her lap.

Charlie felt bad. She knew she was often too brisk, too abrupt. The truth was her nerves were just as frayed at Olivia's. If they hadn't been she probably would have succeeded in ignoring the young doctor's nervous tics.

"They're here." The man named Alex said suddenly. He had been so quiet Charlie had almost forgotten he was there.

Olivia shot up like a jack in the box and ran for the door. Charlie followed and soon all three were standing on the porch looking down the drive at the approaching sedan. After a momentary pause the woman, Wallace…Amber…whatever her name was, joined them.

_See this_ Charlie thought, _is why people shouldn't have aliases. They're freaking annoying._

Alex chuckled and Charlie frowned. It was like dealing with Toby all over again, except Toby had never abandoned a child. Charlie tried to shake off the thought and the darker sadder memories it conjured. Her own father had walked out on her and her mother as a child. She knew Maya seemed to have good reasons but she still felt a resentment on Toby's behalf. Had it really been that bad? Did she have to leave him with no one? Alone in the system? In the instantaneous manner of reflection, Charlie saw again Toby explaining a close call he'd had with a pedophile and then her mind flashed to him confessing that at one point in his childhood his prospects in the foster care system had been so bleak he'd chosen to live on the streets.

_Stop it_. She scolded herself. But Charlie was angry. Her anger should have been directed at the people who had taken Toby but in their absence it was spilling over onto his parents. It didn't help that they constantly called him David. That too was pissing her off.

Finally, the sedan pulled up to the rustic home and the passengers began to pile out. Olivia had long since run to meet it. Charlie followed but stayed back, trying to assess the situation before deciding where she would be of the most use.

Oz got out of the car carefully, his arms still inside supporting Toby. Charlie gulped. He looked terrible. His skin was ashen a fact that was augmented by the white, seemingly paper thin scrubs in which he was dressed. His only color care from his shockingly butchered dark hair and the red seeping into the bandage on his head.

"Liv, help me get him inside." Oz huffed as he gently started pulling Toby's upper body out of the car. Charlie knew now how to be helpful.

"I got it." She called and ran her hands gently along the underside of Toby's back until she could gain a good grasp on his legs. Slowly and awkwardly she and Oz carried him into the house.

As they laid him down in the nearest bedroom Charlie heard Wallace's voice, "What did they do to him?"

Maya's voice sounded as though she were too tired and dispirited to be angry, "They gave him an implant."

Wallace groaned and it sent chills down Charlie's spine.

"What's this about an implant?" She demanded. "You make it sound like a death sentence."

"For someone of David's talents it might as well be." Maya said bitterly.

"Ok, that's it." Charlie exploded. "First of all his name is Toby…" She began but Maya interrupted.

"I'm his mother." She screamed. "I know his name."

"Apparently not." Charlie yelled back, not giving an inch. "See, while you were off doing whatever it is you mind readers do, _Toby_" Charlie put special emphasis on the name "was taking care of himself. _Toby_ kept himself safe. _Toby _decided who he was and what he wanted to be. He did it all alone without any help from you." Charlie found herself advancing on the woman. "As far as I'm concerned we've got more right to call him family than either of you two do." Her eyes raked over Alex. "At least we know his damn name."

"Charlie?"

"What!" Charlie yelled, rounding on Oz fiercely.

"No offense, but you're not exactly being helpful right now."

He was right.

"You're right." She sighed and turned back to Maya a bit out, "I'm sorry."

But she wasn't really. She'd wanted to say something along those lines from the first time Maya'd started in with the whole David thing.

Charlie forced her attention back to Toby. Unfortunately, there wasn't a damn thing she could do to help him and she knew it.

"Liv?" She asked, her voice considerably softer, "Can you do anything?"

"I don't know." Liv answered. "What is this implant? What does it do?"

"It amplifies reception." A dark haired teenager said from the doorway.

"Crap." Oz breathed.

"I don't get it." Charlie said.

"Toby has trouble blocking thoughts out." Oz explained. "It's been getting worse. Sometimes it's almost like he's having a seizure, it's so strong. Before he told me about his reading minds things, I thought he might be leading up to a stroke."

"He's starting to come around." Liv called.

Liv was right, Charlie could hear Toby mumbling faintly. She leaned forward.

"…already lost Jonathan. I can't lose him, too." Toby's voice changed subtley. "…at his head. What did they..is that? He's saying what I'm thinking?..."

"What's going on?" Charlie asked, near panic. "He just said what I was thinking."

"That's all he does now." A young voice said and Charlie turned to see the two children had come into the room. It was the little red haired boy that had spoken.

"I've got more sedative." The teenager said.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea…" Olivia began but Maya interrupted.

"Give it to him." She insisted. "He's in pain."

Charlie glanced up and noted the woman's face was pinched. She glanced around the room and noted that all of the telepaths wore the same pained expression.

Olivia for some reason looked at Charlie as though she needed some kind of confirmation. Charlie nodded to her and Olivia held out her hand for the sedative.

Charlie looked again at Toby. His eyes were staring sightlessly ahead but tears had formed and spilled down either side of his face.

Slowly, the tension in his body seemed to ease a bit. The mumbling started to ebb away and then for a brief moment Toby seemed to be there, groggy but there.

Olivia had seen it, too.

"Toby?" She cried.

"Donnngo." He slurred as the sedative drug him down. "Donnn leavumme."

"Shhhh, Toby." Olivia comforted. "You're okay. I'm here. You're okay. It'll be okay."

Toby's eyes closed. He had drifted off into a welcome oblivion but Olivia kept petting and consoling. "You're okay. It'll be okay. I'm here, Toby. I've got you."

Charlie reached out and placed her hand on Olivia's shoulder. "He's out, Liv. He can't feel anything now."

Olivia nodded, tears flowing unabashedly down her cheeks. She carefully removed the bandage to reveal a long incision. It was horribly swollen and three of the stitches had torn loose.

"It uh," Olivia breathed, "It looks like at some point he tried to rip out the stitches."

Charlie shuddered with hot anger. "So, how do we get that thing out of his head?"

She turned to Olivia who was replacing the bandage. "Can you get it out?"

Olivia shook her head. "Not here. There's no way. I have no idea where exactly they placed it. I don't have the supplies, a sterile room…It's just not possible."

"Okay, so we take him back to Toronto and you take it out there." Charlie said.

"We can't do that either." Maya stated.

"And why not?" Oz said. "We've got to get that thing out of his head!"

"No, she's right." Olivia said, surprising both Charlie and it seemed Oz. "If we take him in, his secret won't be much of a secret anymore. If he starts mumbling the thoughts of everyone around him, you think no one will notice?"

"Then we drug him." Charlie answered.

"That won't work. The anesthesiologist won't prep him for elective surgery until all other drugs are out of his system.

"Okay, so we don't tell them he's drugged. He's bleeding from the head. We just say he's unconscious." Alex supplied.

"No, that wouldn't work either. They'd do a tox-screen and besides, if we give him something and don't tell the anesthesiologist he could give Toby something that might have a negative interaction. Most people don't die from surgical procedures but from the anesthesia. It could kill him." Then Olivia's eyes lit.

"What?" Charlie asked.

"If it were an emergent case they'd go ahead without waiting." Olivia continued.

"What does that mean?" Maya asked.

"If the implant were threatening Toby's life, they'd do emergency surgery no matter what kind of drugs he had in his system but…" She hesitated.

"But what?" Charlie asked.

"The threat to his life would have to be immediate." Olivia said.

"Perhaps," Charlie glanced in the direction of the voice. It was the teenager again. "if the implant were threatening a major blood vessel?"

Olivia nodded. "That would do it but we couldn't fake it and I have no idea exactly where the implant is located."

"It's between the Amygdala and the Hippocampus." He said. "That's where telepaths receive. It's why emotionally charged thoughts come through the clearest..and the loudest."

"How do you know that?" Olivia asked.

The boy's answer was to pull back a section of his hair and reveal a long thin scar.

"We've all had it." He said, gesturing to the two children.

Charlie bit down on sudden nausea as she imagined the three children with angry red wounds like the one she'd just seen on Toby's head.

"It wasn't so bad." The little girl said to Charlie.

"You reading me, kid?" Charlie asked but she was surprised to find she wasn't as threatened by the idea of a child reading her thoughts.

The girl nodded, "I'm scared. I want to know what you're thinking."

"I need more information than that." Olivia interrupted. "I need a scan to tell me exactly where it is."

"What if you could see the procedure done?" The teenager asked.

"Is it on YouTube?" Olivia asked and giggled a bit hysterically.

"May I?" He asked, gesturing toward her head.

"May you what?" Olivia asked warily.

He shrugged. "It's kind of hard to explain. Easier to show you."

Olivia glanced at the sleeping Toby and Charlie knew what she was thinking. She'd do anything if it would help him.

"Okay." She agreed.

The boy put his hands on either side of Olivia's head and her eyes widened.

"This will work better if you shut your eyes." He said, his voice somewhat strained.

Olivia dutifully shut her eyes and both she and the boy were incredibly still for several moments.

Charlie looked at Maya and then Alex but they both seemed as mystified as she by the bizarre behavior.

The boy sighed and stood back.

"Oh my." Olivia breathed. "That was…intense."

"Sorry," He apologized. "I know its strange feeling another's emotions but they're so closely linked to memory and" he shrugged. "I was really upset."

"It's okay." Olivia said quickly. "It's nice to know you care about him so much."

Charlie'd had enough. "Okay, what the hell just happened?"

"He watched them place the impant." Olivia answered. "I know exactly where it is. If I open the wound and move it fractionally, it will fit the criteria of an emergent case."

"Well, okay then." Charlie said. "Let's do it."

"No, not here. I'd rather do it at the last possible moment." Olivia disagreed. "I'm not going to be faking a life threatening condition here. Toby will be in real danger. I don't want an accident, fall or some other jarring to tear the vein. I'll do it once we've got him in an ambulance and we're minutes from the ER."

Maya and Alex seemed to be locked in some kind of non-verbal discussion.

"What's your name?" Alex said at last.

"Seth." The boy replied. "That's what Wickman named me. He said I was like the son Adam and Eve had after Cain killed Abel."

Maya swore.

"Can I see your arm?" She asked after a moment.

Seth for some reason covered his right elbow with his left hand and Maya made an odd noise.

"You have a birthmark there, don't you?" She asked with a shaky voice.

"Are you reading me?" Seth asked back.

"No, no I don't have to." She was crying now. "I know it's there because I saw it the day you were born."

She opened her hands palms up. "Read me."

His eyes lost focus for a moment and then filled with tears.

"He said.."

"I know."

"You didn't…"

"Never!"

"Mom?"

Maya nodded and tears were now streaming freely down both their faces. She covered the five feet between them in two long strides and hugged him fiercely.

"Jonathan. Oh my Jonathan." She cried as she hugged him and pet at his hair and face. "I thought I'd never get you back."

"Wait, wait." Seth or Jonathan pulled back. "So that means Toby…"

"Is your older brother."

Seth smiled. "That's awesome." He said, and Charlie thought it was the first time she'd heard him say something that sounded remotely like what a normal teenager would say.

"This is wonderful." She interrupted. "I hate to be the grinch that stole Christmas but can we bring the focus back to Toby and have the reunion later when everyone can attend?"

"Yes, yes, of course you're right." Maya said. "What's our next move?"

"Oz, you go back to work. We keep Toby sedated, get him to Toronto then make a call that'll be on Oz's patrol. Olivia rides in the back with Oz and shifts the implant before or as they arrive. The doctors go in, get the damn thing out. Toby spends a few days eating blue jello and we all live happily ever after. Sound good?"

"For once I'm glad my new partner doesn't let me drive." Was Oz's response.

**To be continued...**


	13. Best Laid Plans

**I'm very, very sorry about the incredibly long delay between the last chapter and this one. I've had my own series of unfortunate events unfolding but things are looking up and I finally had an opportunity to write and post. Once again, I'm very sorry to keep you hanging. I will finish this story soon.**

* * *

Olivia glanced at Toby's still and sleeping face, cradled in her lap. Part of her still couldn't believe he was actually there. Then again, part of him was still gone. The expressions that lit his face when he would regain consciousness at first were always painfully strained before dissolving into that mindless state he took on as he blindly voiced the thoughts of all those around him.

While Olivia hated those pained expressions, what terrified her was the fact that the last two times she'd administered a new dose, they'd been missing. There was no moment where Toby painfully fought against the bombardment. There was no moment where Toby groggily acknowledged her presence. Toby's trancelike state had been constant.

The sedan stopped and Charlie leaned over from the passenger seat.

"This is where I get off." She seemed hesitant. "I'm sorry…"

Olivia interrupted. "You're doing the right thing. Having you involved will complicate everything. It's better if you show up after the fact as a third party and just stamp closed on the case."

"You realize we don't actually do that, right?" Charlie asked and, once again, Olivia couldn't tell if the detective was joking or dead serious. She decided to ignore the comment.

"Go on." Olivia said. "Go to work like it's a normal Monday morning. We'll call emergency services in another two hours."

Charlie nodded and her eyes lost focus for a second. "He'll wake up between now and then." She said.

"I know. I've got enough sedative." Olivia reached up and patted Charlie's arm a bit awkwardly. "He'll be okay."

"How the hell did this happen?" Charlie asked suddenly. "One day I'm trying to get this annoying EMT from nosing around my cases and the next I'm tangled up. I care about him and you and even Oz and I know better. I'm breaking all the rules."

"Because you care?" Olivia asked.

"If you don't care about people, they can't hurt you." Charlie said but the response sounded canned, like a favorite line from a movie.

"Do you like football?" Olivia asked.

Charlie looked stunned. "What?"

"You know, soccer?" Olivia added, trying to clarify.

Charlie rolled her eyes a little bit. "Yeah, I know what you meant and, yeah. I like it."

"Who do you support?"

"Which league?" Charlie asked.

"Do you follow the English Premier League?" Olivia asked back.

"Yeah, I do. In the EPL I support Fulham."

Now it was Olivia's turn to look surprised. "Really? Why?"

Charlie shrugged. "I don't know. They're fighters. Every other year it seems they're up for relegation then next thing you know they're playing a killer game in the UEFA final."

"What's it like watching a Man U v. Liverpool game? It's interesting, right? They're both great teams. It might even be fun but does it compare to a Fulham v. anyone else game? No. Now, why do you think that is?"

Charlie sighed.

"You get more out of a game that you put more into. You have more fun watching a Fulham game because you put some of yourself into it. It sucks when they lose but at least all the other fans are in the same boat. And when they win? When they win, so do you and so do all those other people. Isn't it better to jump up and down and hug a complete stranger than be happy all alone?"

Charlie wasn't looking at Olivia now but staring out of one of the windows.

Olivia tapped Charlie's shoulder, making sure she had her attention.

"You can live a pretty decent life without getting involved, Charlie, and you'll probably avoid some heartache doing it that way, but you're never going to really have a life if you don't have people to share your life with."

Charlie looked at Olivia for a long moment and then her gaze shifted down to the still sleeping Toby. Olivia saw a sparkle glinting off her rapidly blinking eyes and then Charlie cleared her throat loudly.

"Well," She said, huffing a bit. "I could have done better." She smiled at Olivia. "But I guess you guys will do."

Olivia rolled her eyes but smiled.

"I'll see you at the hospital." Charlie said.

Olivia nodded, fighting back a sudden nervous flutter.

Charlie opened the car door and climbed out. "Good luck." She said quietly before slamming the door and stomping to her car, still parked by Olivia's apartment building.

"You," Said Alex softly, "are a very strange group of people."

Olivia almost jumped. She had somehow forgotten the quiet man was in the car with them.

"Wow, coming from you, that's quite a comment." Olivia said a bit testily.

To her annoyance, he laughed. "I'm sorry. It's just you're right. We're all such a mess."

He looked over the back of the seat at her. "I know your secret."

Olivia flushed.

"No, not that one. I mean," He frowned. "I know that one too but that wasn't the one I was talking about."

Olivia frowned in confusion then her expression cleared. "The implant." She said.

"The implant." He confirmed and reached out a hand awkwardly. "Don't worry. I believe in you. You can do it."

Olivia looked down at Toby again. "I have to." She whispered.

She and Alex talked off and on for the next few hours but were mostly quiet. Olivia noticed that his expression was strangely pained when Toby started to regain consciousness.

"I'm sorry." She said much later. "You've probably caught me thinking all kinds of … unkind things about you but I can see you care about Toby."

"You're not wrong." Alex smiled from the front seat. "But you're not completely right either. I looked pained because I am in pain, physical pain. Toby is so strong. I know it's hard for the rest of you to understand…"

"Yes," Olivia snorted. "we mere mortals cannot possibly hope to understand."

Alex chuckled and it only further infuriated Olivia.

"That's not what I meant. It would be like someone trying to understand what it's like to be a doctor if they'd never actually experienced medical school, internship and residency. How do you explain something like that to another person? Can they understand the mental overload? The exhaustion? I'm not trying to set us apart as better than anyone else but we are different."

Olivia sighed, relenting. "I know. I'm sorry."

"I'm aware that my tendency to laugh at everything makes people think that I'm mocking them." Alex said. "But, honestly, it's better than what I used to do."

"What did you use to do?" Olivia asked.

"I used to get angry." Alex sighed. "I was angry about the things they did to us in the Institute. I was most angry about what they did to Maya."

"You mean..?"

"Yes, I mean Toby. The way I looked at it then, they used a part of me to violate her. I expected Maya to be as angry as I was, or at least angry but she was happy." Alex shook his head. "She could hear him, you know. As soon as those synapses started firing she could get hits off of him, feelings. She'd talk about how pure his feelings were. Kept trying to get me to read him but I wouldn't. I was too angry. I had a crush on her. I loved her and I …" He hesitated for a moment, looking at Toby not Olivia. "I hated him. He wasn't my son he was this thing they'd made. If I loved him I couldn't hold on to that anger. I chose it over him, over Maya even. I was angry for a long time. I was alone for a long time, too."

He shook his head as though he could jostle loose bad memories like a dog shakes off water.

"When I let go of some of that anger it was amazing. I could finally hold on to more important things, like Maya and David…sorry, Toby. I found her and we were happy for a while. I held back from Toby though. It was a strain on everyone. Then Jonathan was born and suddenly they, the Institute, were back and we were running. I stashed Maya and the boys somewhere I thought they'd be safe while I tried to reach out to our friends. I came back and they were all gone. The caravan was burned and I was alone and angry again, this time with myself. I'd had it, you know? I'd had this perfect family and I hadn't really enjoyed it or appreciated it."

He looked at Toby again. "I hadn't let myself really love my son."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Olivia asked.

"Because I know your secret." He said. "I've been reading you and your friends because I've had to make sure you're really on our side. It's an intrusion and it's not fair but it was necessary." He shook his head. "Still doesn't make it right. This is the only way I can think of to even things up. I know your secret and now, you know mine."

"Thank you." Olivia breathed.

"You don't thank a thief for returning a stolen item." Alex said, brushing off her thanks.

"You didn't have to." Olivia said.

"Yes, I did."

They were quiet then but it was a comfortable silence.

Olivia glanced at the time on the clock in the car console. "It's time."

Alex started the car.

* * *

Oz opened his ringing phone.

"Hey." He said by way of greeting.

"You busy?" Olivia asked.

"No. We're good."

"Okay, I'll make the call."

The phone clicked, indicating she'd hung up the phone.

Moments later, he heard the squawk of the radio and then his smart ass partner calling him back to the rig. Oz smiled a bit at the idea of getting Toby back; of getting things back to normal.

They arrived on the scene and his partner called in the initial assessment.

Male. Late 20's. Head Injury.

Toby looked worse than he had last time Oz had seen him, and that was saying something. Well, there was the fact that Olivia had reopened the incision and the bleeding wasn't something to sneeze at. He was downright gray and his lips had a subtle bluish purple hue.

"Ma'am, what happened?" Craig asked, placing a hand on Olivia's shoulder.

"I'm a doctor." Olivia announced. "This man is in danger of serious cranial bleed. He needs surgery immediately."

"What?" Craig blurted but Oz took over.

"Gurney. Now."

In moments they had Toby secure and in the back of the ambulance.

"Hey," Oz said to Liv. "You look almost as pale as Toby. You okay?"

She forced a strained smile. "Just nerves."

"You'll be fine."

She nodded, not looking at him.

"Hey." Oz said gently but firmly and waited for her eyes to meet his before continuing, "You're great at what you do. You got this."

Olivia didn't smile this time but she took a deep breath and nodded which under the circumstances was better than a smile.

Oz felt a tell-tale shift to the left.

"I know that turn." He announced. "We've got a nice even stretch and then the final turn into the ER. Now's your best shot."

Olivia nodded again and took the sterilized tweezers Oz had set aside for her. Oz watched her hands, trying to concentrate on them and not the wound or Toby's face. The tweezers entered the incision and Oz's stomach turned at how deep into the wound they reached but he kept watching. He suddenly realized he was holding Toby's hand. His eyes automatically sought out Toby's face.

"SHIT." Olivia whispered and fresh blood poured from the wound.

"What?" Oz yelped.

"I hit it." Olivia cried. "I hit the vein. See, this is why I didn't want to do it until we were almost there. I'm not a brain surgeon."

Her voice was creeping further and further up the scale, with each octave it became more desperate.

"Liv, it's okay." Oz grabbed her arms. "We're already here."

The ambulance lurched dramatically as if to illustrate his point.

"We're here." Oz repeated as he opened the rear doors to a welcome sight, a team of medical personnel.

"We've got a male, late 20's with a cranial bleed!" He yelled.

Liv jumped out with the gurney and started yelling information and orders. Oz followed as far as he could into the ER. Then he paced and began the long process of waiting.

"Hey, c'mon man. Let's hit the road." Craig called entering the ER from the bay. "You handed that guy off fifteen minutes ago. I understand taking a little break but I wanna get back out there."

"That wasn't just some guy. That was my partner." Oz bit out.

"What?" Craig looked confused. "That guy? I thought your old partner disappeared."

"He just reappeared."

"Minus part of his brain." Craig snorted.

The next thing Oz knew Craig was against the wall and several people were trying to prevent Oz's arm from flattening the rookie's windpipe. Oz relaxed and stepped back. Craig crumpled to the floor, angrily shrugging off attempts to look at his neck.

After a moment, he got back to his feet and Oz squared up to him, expecting confrontation. But the rookie lowered his eyes.

"I'm sorry, man." Craig said. "That was out of line."

For some bizarre reason Oz felt tears pricking his eyes and blinked them back angrily. He would have preferred it if the kid had stepped up to him.

"Aw, he'll be okay man." Craig said, giving Oz's shoulder a rough pat. "EMT's hang tough."

Oz said nothing but he hoped the dumb kid was finally right.


	14. Stuck in a Moment

**We're almost finished! Please review if you have an opinion and a moment. I really appreciate it.**

**See previous disclaimers.**

* * *

"Hey, Toby." Oz said quietly.

"Toby!" He yelled so loudly and suddenly he almost startled himself.

Toby, however, was not startled. According to the neurologist, Toby wasn't much of anything anymore.

Oz sat quietly for a few moments. Then his eyes focused on the ventilator machine and followed the tubes from the machine to where they attached to the intubation tube taped in place at the corner of Toby's mouth.

The surgery had gone well. Though the bleed had caused concern and the implant had, quite frankly, freaked a few people out, there was no serious damage. It had not been necessary to remove any brain tissue and circulation had not been lost to any portion of the brain. Scans of Toby's brain showed no significant damage whatsoever. On the other hand, they also showed no activity. His brain had just shut down.

The doctors had a real head scratcher with this one. An active brain that shut down, like someone had flipped a switch. They'd seen brain damage cause a loss or termination of brain function but there was no medical, physical explanation for Toby's condition. It was like he'd just turned himself off.

_Well, if he can turn himself off, he can damn well turn himself back on again. _Oz thought fiercely.

"C'mon Toby, I mean it. Enough is enough! Liv blames herself. Charlie's downright scary. Your family is alive and together and waiting to meet you and you're _still sleeping_!" Oz almost threw the pillow he'd been using to help support his back in his friend's face.

He leaned back and covered his face with his hands.

"Toby, if you don't do something they're gonna pull the plug." He lowered his hand, looked for some kind of response and found nothing.

In frustration he grabbed a glass of water on the counter and threw it in Toby's face.

Nothing.

He stood and, leaning over the bed, gave Toby a good firm slap on the cheek unprotected by the dangling tubes.

Nothing.

He grabbed the bed and shook it fiercely.

"I mean it, Toby!" He yelled; his voice choking. "Wake up." _Shake _"Wake up." _Shake_ "Wake up!"

"Oz!"

Oz turned to find Liv standing in the now open door, dressed in her scrubs and lab coat. He tried to unobtrusively wipe away his tears of frustration.

"What are you doing up here?" He asked by way of greeting.

"Ally called me from the nurse's station." Liv said gently. "Said you were…having a moment."

"I'm fine." He said but even he could hear the strain in his voice.

"You've barely slept since we brought him back, Oz. And how long has that been? Two, three weeks?"

"Well, I figure Toby's doing enough sleeping for both of us." He said in an attempt at levity. "I mean, we're partners. Things have to even out, you know?"

But Liv didn't laugh. She stared at Toby and her eyes grew bright.

"The plan is to take him off support tomorrow." She said quietly.

Oz's head hurt, his eyes ached deeply in the far back of their sockets and there was a painful pulling in his throat. He wished he could cry, not just tear up in frustration either, but really cry. Scream, yell and sob until he scared the elephant sitting on his chest away.

After a long silence Liv said, "I think its better."

He looked a question at her.

"I mean, it's better than…where he was, the way he was. The…the mindless mumbling." She breathed deeply. "If I had the choice between being like that, dead inside, I'd rather just be plain everyday dead. That's better, right? He's better than what he was, right?" Tears were spilling down her cheeks suddenly and Oz reached out and hugged her. He knew what she was really asking.

"You did the right thing, Liv." He murmured. "Whatever happens, you did what Toby would have wanted."

She cried in his arms. She cried the long, hard sobs he had just found himself wishing he could cry. Holding her now, being here for her didn't make it all go away, but it did make it something he could stand.

* * *

Maya stood to one side in the crowded room. The young doctor, Olivia, was holding David's, no _Toby's_ hand. Maya's eyes moved up to his still face. He looked so different, so old but she could still see bits and pieces of the boy she'd loved so much. She'd told herself giving him up was the selfless thing to do. It was what was best for him but seeing how it had turned out she doubted herself. What had giving up a life with him accomplished?

A movement caught her attention and she glanced up to see that Oz had taken a step closer to Olivia and placed a hand on her shoulder. At least Toby'd had friends who loved him. The detective, Charlie wasn't there but Maya knew it wasn't because she didn't care, quite the opposite. She hadn't been surprised when Charlie declined the invitation. She was a woman of action. Standing by helpless as Toby was let go wasn't at all her style.

A hand reached out and gripped Maya's and she found Alex standing beside her. She fought the urge to read him. This was a time when his thoughts should be his own. Jonathan took her other hand but she shook it free, choosing instead to wind her arm around him. Alex copied her and soon she was being embraced on both sides.

_We're together._ She thought.

At last they were all together under the same roof, something she'd thought would never happen and yet now it seemed like some kind of cruel joke. The universe had brought her splintered family to her and all so she could see it irrevocably put asunder.

A doctor entered the room and spoke softly, explaining the process but all Maya could hear was a the roaring of her blood pounding in her ears.

The doctor walked up to the machines and started pressing buttons. Soon the rhythmic sounds of the ventilator ceased and he disconnected the long wide tubes from the smaller tube taped in place in Toby's mouth. The doctor also turned off the sound to the heart monitor but the display was still on. Maya watched the blips on the screen that represented her son's heart beats, she found that she couldn't bear to look at his face. The blips increased in speed and then slowed. She braced herself, waiting for them to peter off and stop…

…but they didn't.

She blinked away the cloudiness of her tears to make sure what she was seeing was correct but there was no mistake. The heart monitor indicated a steady beat.

"Liv!" Oz breathed. "Liv, look!"

Maya tried to block out the noise of his voice. She thought she'd heard something.

There it was! A slight, barely audible whistling coming from the tube in Toby's throat. He was breathing.

"He's breathing." She whispered. Then louder, "He's breathing!"

The doctor stood frowning in confusion as everyone else in the room rejoiced.

"I knew it! I knew he was still in there somewhere!" Oz was shouting as he excitedly shook poor Olivia violently by the shoulders.

Several hours later the group, now joined by Charlie, stood and listened to the explanation given by the doctor.

"We've been able to confirm some lower level functionality in the brain at this time. We believe that the process of depriving the patient of oxygen and the resultant increase in blood pressure may have made it possible for us to detect previously undetectable brain activity…" He went on for quite some time but Maya tuned him out until he went away.

When he had gone Liv murmured. "He had to say that. What happened to Toby isn't possible. A dead brain doesn't just reactivate. I looked at those scans myself. There was no detectible activity. This doesn't make sense."

"Who cares?" Oz said. "The important thing is Toby's not dead, right?"

"Yes, but he's not awake either." Liv insisted. "Now we know he can come back. When we turned off the machines that were sustaining his life, the part of his brain necessary to perform those functions turned itself back on. If he can do that, he can turn it all back on. We just have to figure out how to make him do it."

The group was silent for a long time as everyone seemed to ponder the problem.

"Well," Jonathan finally spoke up. "maybe we should start with why he turned himself off. I mean, you said nothing that happened when they removed the implant could account for it. So, the surgery didn't do it, Toby did."

"He was protecting himself." Alex suggested. "The implant was overwhelming him, making him lose himself in other people's thoughts."

"Right." Maya joined in. "What if he was trying to shut down his telepathy and ended up going too far?"

"I guess it makes sense." Liv said slowly. "It's impossible, of course, but then again so is telepathy. I guess if Toby's brain can do that, it can turn itself off. But we still don't know how to turn him back on."

Something was bothering Maya; like a tickle in the back of her throat that wouldn't be soothed.

"Just a minute." She murmured under her breath, taking a step closer to Toby. Her hand reached out to touch the short stubble on his head but she was mentally reaching out, looking for something familiar.

After a few moments of looking she found it. She'd almost forgotten where it was.

_That's it!_

She pulled back and found that everyone in the room was staring at her.

"Maya?" Alex asked tentatively.

"Yes?"

"What happened?" Jonathan asked.

"What do you mean?"

Oz frowned. "You touched Toby's head and then went all spacey for like, ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?" Maya frowned. It had felt like a few seconds.

"What were you doing?" Charlie asked.

"I was looking for something." Maya answered. "When they came for us and took Jonathan. All I had left was to protect Toby. I decided the safest thing to do would be to send him away but I didn't want him…" She paused. "I didn't want him to remember. I could hear his thoughts, already planning how to find me again. So, I built a wall in his mind and put his memories behind it. I left him only the memory of his new name and…" Her throat was suddenly dry and she cleared it carefully. "…and Jonathan. I wanted him to at least have some memory of his brother and the man who took him."

"I don't get it." Oz said simply.

"The wall is still there. I think that when Toby couldn't escape from the bombardment of the implant-heightened reception he found the wall and hid his consciousness behind it."

"So, how does that help us help Toby?" Charlie asked, her eyes burning fiercly.

"It's my wall. I built it. I should be able to tear it back down." Maya said and felt her lips pull up in the first smile she'd managed in days.

* * *

Toby feels light. No, not just light; weightless. He's never actually been weightless in his life but there is no other way to express this feeling. There is nothing pulling him. There is no sound, no light, no gravity. He feels incredibly free but something is missing. He tries to remember, grasping at thoughts but memories slip away.

At last he feels something; a pulling. Then he thinks he can hear something but he can't tell what. Some part of himself chills with a sudden fear. There is something wrong out there. He shouldn't go toward the sound. He should be afraid.

Toby tries to shake off the feeling. There's nothing to be afraid of. Is there?

The sound comes again and this time Toby doesn't hesitate. He wills himself to follow the voice. He doesn't find it strange that he can't move, that there is in fact nothing of himself to move in this place. He has no arms or legs. That part of himself doesn't exist here, it is just the sense of himself and it wants to follow the sound so it does.

Slowly the sound seems to come together. It's painting a picture within him. It's a woman, she has dark hair and blue eyes. They're kind. They make him feel so happy and safe. The voice seems to pull away and Toby wills himself forward, following it.

Mommy. Part of him recognizes her. This is Mommy. She gives him food when he's hungry. She makes him feel better when he's sad. She laughs and plays with him and nothing is ever as good until she's seen it and nothing can ever really hurt him if she's there.

With the recognition comes sensation. The weightless feeling is gone. Everywhere around him are things pressing down, touching him. He feels himself settle into sensation, as though he were stretching into his nervous system like into a slightly undersized sweater.

He feels his eyelids and considers trying to open them but it seems a bit overwhelming. He feels pressure in his right hand and decides this is safer. Slowly and with deliberation he triggers the muscles in his arm, palms and fingers, returning the pressure.

"He squeezed my hand!" A familiar voice yelps. Who is it? He knows the answer is there but he can't remember how to find it.

"Toby?" Another voice. Another familiar voice.

"Toby, open your eyes." This third voice is commanding and it's the command the makes the connection. _Charlie._

He remembers how to remember. The person holding his hand is Liv. The other voice was Oz. He knows who they are and he knows who he is.

_Toby Logan._ He thinks.

_My name is Toby Logan. It's not the only name I've ever known but it is my name now. I am Toby Logan._

"Toby?" Oz asks again. "Are you there, buddy?"

Toby slowly opens his eyes and looks around the room full of concerned expressions.

"Toby?"

"Yeah, Oz, I'm here." He whispers and closes his eyes, exhausted. "I'm here."

* * *

**Okay, question: Should I end it here or do an epilogue chapter? I have some more story to tell in a chapter like that but I'm wondering if this wouldn't be the better ending. Please let me know what you think. Thanks!**


	15. A None Too Gentle Nudge

**I apologize for this update being so long overdue. I actually wrote it some time ago but I'm in the middle of finals and kept forgetting to post it. There is a bit more to come but it probably won't be written until after the aforementioned finals have finished wreaking their havoc on my mental and emotional well being. **

* * *

Charlie stepped out of the elevator and almost collided with an orderly.

"Watch it." She grunted.

The young man called a distracted "Sorry" over his shoulder but continued down the hall at a brisk jog.

_Wonder what that's all about._ Charlie thought before dismissing her idle curiosity and heading to Toby's room in the skilled nursing department. The medical staff had struggled with Toby's condition but had no trouble spouting off a bunch of odd sounding words that made no sense to Charlie but, she guessed, they thought made them sound less like idiots.

"It's some sort of idiopathic neuropathy. We're not sure how it's tied to the trauma. We've examined the pieces of the foreign object and haven't been able to determine its purpose. We're running a complete neurological evaluation, of course, and hopefully the electromyography and nerve conduction velocity tests will tell us more..." Charlie recalled the chubby faced doctor with glasses had just about put her to sleep droning on and on. Finally, she'd leaned over and murmured a question to Liv.

"Can you please translate some of this into English for me?"

"He has no idea what happened to Toby, why Toby's having the symptoms he's having, if they're permanent and if not, how long he'll have them… Basically, he doesn't know anything about anything and he's wasting our time and my patience."

Charlie'd been a bit surprised at the venom in Liv's voice. I mean, the guy had been annoying but Charlie hadn't thought it was something to get truly angry about. Then it'd registered. Liv wasn't angry at the poor, sweaty doctor in front of them. She was angry at herself because she didn't have any answers either.

"Hey." Charlie'd grabbed Liv's arm and unceremoniously jerked her down the hall. "Look, I know we're not best buds and won't be painting each other's nails or whatever anytime soon but you need some advice. I hate giving advice because people get pissy and usually don't listen anyway but I respect you Liv, and I'm pretty sure you can take it."

Liv had frowned but said nothing.

"You can't keep taking everything on yourself. This isn't your fault. You did the best you could with what you had and if it hadn't been for you, Toby'd be much more screwed up than he is now. He'd probably be dead. Frankly, you're wasting time beating yourself up like this. Where are we now? Toby's back. He's talking. He's even walking a bit. Whatever happened; happened. Focus on now. Focus on doing what we need to do to get him to where he wants to be, okay?"

Liv had sighed. "You're right."

Charlie'd grinned. "Of course, I am. I'm starting to like you, Liv, but you strike me as one of these people who's a bit too smart for her own good. You obsess over all these little mistakes you made. It's a waste of time. Everybody makes mistakes. Live through it. Learn from it. Move on."

"As easy as that?" Liv had bridled.

"No, it's not easy." Charlie had sighed. "It's hard. Life is hard. Get a fucking helmet."

Charlie kind of regretted that she'd lost her temper a bit. She'd turned her back and marched away, annoyed. She hadn't seen Liv since and had been thinking that when she did, she'd apologize…maybe. Charlie wasn't good at apologizing. She wasn't used to caring what people thought of her or how they felt about her. It had been so much easier before Toby.

She sighed and thought of him and his stupid smug smile. He'd known right from the start just how full of shit she'd been. He'd known when she was putting up a front. He'd seen through her walls and known that she, like everyone, wanted someone to love her just the way she was. It'd been scary as hell at first, being friends with a mind reader. You couldn't hide. But then it occurred to her, he knew. He knew all the good things, bad things, they all bubbled up into that head of his and yet he still came back. Toby liked her just the way she was. How cool was that?

Charlie opened the door to Toby's room but her greeting died on her lips.

The room was empty.

"Toby?" She called. Her eyes automatically scanned the room, looking for signs of a struggle. The bedding was a mess but there didn't seem to be any overturned furniture or upset dishes. Her hand started reaching for her side arm before she suppressed it.

_Chill out, Charlie. _

She saw a crack of light shining across the room and realized it was coming from the bathroom door. She approached carefully at first but then hurried when she saw what had happened. Toby lay on the floor of the small bathroom unconscious.

_He must have fallen._ She thought.

It wasn't an unlikely scenario. Toby continued to struggle with his balance and motor functions. Charlie bent over him and quickly covered up his gentiles with the hospital dressing gown that had mercilessly flopped open. It wasn't that it bothered or embarrassed her. She had seen a penis before, after all. But Toby's condition made him vulnerable enough without any fresh indignities.

Charlie carefully draped Toby's lifeless arm over her shoulder and awkwardly half carried, half dragged him back to his bed. She had him situated before it occurred to her that Toby might have aggravated his head injury and she called a nurse.

By the time Toby came to, several nurses and a doctor were examining him. Eventually, they satisfied themselves that Toby hadn't done himself any lasting harm and, after scolding him to remember to call for help before getting up again, they left him alone.

Charlie'd sat ignored throughout these proceedings and noted that Toby was not in the best of moods.

"Head hurt?" She asked.

Toby turned to her, a bit surprised.

"How long have you been there?" He asked, ignoring her question.

Charlie shrugged. "A while. Since before you came around."

"You found me." Toby said, it wasn't a question.

"Yeah. So, your head hurt?" She repeated.

"I'm fine." Toby replied a little too forcefully.

Charlie felt her eyebrows rise. This wasn't like Toby, Mr. Bright side of life, sunshine and daisies.

"You got a problem?" She asked.

"No, things are perfect. I'm peachy. I can't even get across the room to take a piss by myself, of course, but, yeah, I'm great. You?"

"Woohoohoo." Charlie chuckled.

"This isn't funny." Toby seethed.

"No, of course not." Charlie said in all seriousness but an irrepressible grin spread across her face. "It's just. I've never seen you upset before. You're very 'Hulk Smash'."

Toby didn't grunt or bark. He sighed. The sigh was so deep it was more like a dry sob and Charlie sobered again immediately.

"I'm sorry, Toby." She said. "I know this is hard."

"You know this is hard? You know why I fell? Someone died. I was trying to hobble my way to the toilet and someone's last thoughts reached out from somewhere and _took over my damn mind_. This is hard? You have no idea." Toby retorted.

Charlie thought about the orderly running down the hall and frowned. He must have been running to the bedside of whoever Toby'd been in contact with. She almost shuddered as she thought of having her mind hijacked like that, and for something so frightening but Toby had to snap out of this funk he was in. Someone needed to take the gloves off and Charlie had the most practice.

"You know," She sighed as though faintly bored. "It's getting harder and harder for me to feel sorry for you."

"I don't want you to feel sorry for me." Toby barked.

"You sure about that?" Charlie spit back. "'Cuz it seems like every time I come around here there's a Toby Logan pity party going on."

"I can't WALK!" Toby shouted, surprising Charlie and, she suspected, himself.

He clenched his hands into fists and covered his eyes, breathing deeply.

Finally he said quietly, his eyes still covered, "I can hardly walk. I have trouble feeding myself, for Pete's sake. I'll never be fit enough to work a rig like this. What do I do, Charlie? What would you do if you knew you couldn't be a cop?"

Charlie swallowed, digesting that scenario.

"I'd be pissed." She said, honestly. "I think I might shoot up a wall or two."

Toby chuckled. "I know I'm disappointing you and Oz and Liv and…everyone. I just…" Toby looked out the window. "I've started over so many times. I'm sick of it. When is life, or fate or whatever it is that keeps beating me down gonna get bored, move on and leave me the hell alone? When do I just get to live?"

"I don't know, Toby." Charlie said. "I wish I did. I wish I could fix you." And she did.

"I know." Toby smiled. "You're right though. I've been wasting too much time feeling sorry for myself. I needed a kick in the pants. Figures you'd be the one to give it to me."

Charlie smiled. "Always happy to serve. And, I have news."

Toby's eyebrows lifted. "News?"

"Yes, about our evil empire fiend. It seems that a certain nefarious businessman has been arrested."

"Arrested? What for?"

"No worries, it's nothing to do with you." Charlie smiled. "He's going away for insider trading. Apparently, his mad scientists turned on him after he showed his true colors with you. See, he was using telepaths to eavesdrop on moguls, and then using the information to play the stock market and fund his evil empire. Beautiful thing about insider trading is it doesn't matter how a person gets the privileged information, you just have to prove that they knew. The good doctors provided the police with enough information to put their employer away for a long time. He's done."

Charlie examined Toby's face trying to gauge his reaction but found it difficult.

"Toby?" She asked.

"What?" Toby said, distracted.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking I'm glad that bastard won't be able to mess with anyone else's head anymore."

Charlie smiled.

"Then again," Toby began, "if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here."

Charlie suddenly had an epiphany.

"You!" She exclaimed. "This isn't about your head or walking or your job at all!"

Toby frowned. "What?"

"This is about your Mom and Dad!" Charlie said, almost accusingly. "You got all those memories back."

Toby looked away, glaring at his bedding and Charlie knew she was right.

"Toby." She began.

"I don't wanna talk about it." He grunted.

"You need to." Charlie said in her usual matter of fact manner. "But not to me. I had a chat or two with your old man. He was just a kid when all this went down, Toby, your Mom too. Cut 'em a little slack."

"I'm trying to, Charlie." Toby said. "Maybe if I'd had 20 or 30 years to deal with these memories it'd be easier but, it's like all this happened yesterday. My Mom made sure of that. Suddenly, I have these memories of being a kid, meeting my Dad for the first time and hearing the revulsion in his thoughts. Seeing the flashes in his mind of the procedures they put him and my mother through to make me. Having him physically back away from me." Toby shook his head. "It wasn't just that he didn't care about me or even not like me, Charlie. He was disgusted by me. Maybe, just maybe, I'd have an easier time getting over it if I'd had the time to get over it but I didn't. My Mom reached in and took that away."

"All your memories can't be bad." Charlie insisted.

"They aren't." Toby said, his voice strained. "And that hurts too. I grew up almost a blank slate. It was bad enough being, at best, an afterthought in someone else's family but my Mom took away even the memory of having a family, of being loved."

Charlie didn't know what to say. She'd always known that Toby's childhood had been painful but this was the first time he'd ever laid all that pain out on the table. Her instinct was to feel sorry for him, to comfort and sooth him but that wasn't what Toby needed right now.

"Yeah," She grunted. "Well, your Dad isn't repulsed by you now. What you need is new memories. I'm sorry your childhood sucked Toby, I really am. But what are you going to do? You can't change it. Your parents can't change it. You gonna cry over spilled milk or pour a new glass? Talk to your parents, Toby. They love you. Your Dad's been beating himself up for decades over how he felt about you. How you got to be here isn't important Toby. What's important is the group of people who were willing to risk their lives, to move heaven and earth, to bring you back."

Toby finally looked up from the bedding.

"We love you, Toby. I love you." Charlie felt a mist coming to her eyes and looked away blinking.

"You love me?"

She looked back and found Toby grinning … no leering.

"Shut up."

"No, I heard it. You said you loved me." Toby crowed.

"Well, you're brain damaged." Charlie retorted and then held her breath, suddenly afraid she might have gone too far.

"Yes, I am." Toby smiled, "But not that brain damaged. You're not getting out of this. You said you loved me."

"You're an infant."

"I'm telling, Liv." Toby called in a childish sing-song voice.

"I'm leaving." Charlie sighed, heaving herself out of her chair and heading for the door. As she turned down the hall she heard Toby's voice yelling, "What? No good-bye kiss?" Yeah, he was gonna be fine.


End file.
